Blood Pact
by Blue Eyes Shining Dragon
Summary: Archieverse. Ch. 12 FINALLY UP. At long last, the final confrontation between Sonic, Sally and the Freedom Fighters against the Order of Daxis...
1. That Which Cannot Be Forgotten

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's note: At long last, my Sonic fan-fiction begins. I've always wanted to write Sonic fan-fic, but for various reasons have never gotten around to it. Now, at long last, I have a story, and I hope you all enjoy it. However, let me make one thing clear right now: This takes place in the Archie Comics continuity. If that bothers you, leave now, because I refuse to tolerate any bullshit flames about which continuity is the best one. Otherwise, enter with an open mind and enjoy. Even if you're not Archie-Sonic's biggest fan, you might enjoy this one. J

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Gamecube (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Prologue: That Which Cannot Be Forgotten

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Five hours, fifteen minutes, and five seconds. "_That is how long it's been since it happened…"_ Princess Sally thought to herself. She stood at the railing of the balcony located outside her bedchamber. That bedchamber was located in the newly re-built Castle of Acorn, which towered high into the sky, giving Sally a beautiful view of what was once Knothole Village. However, it could hardly be described as a village any longer. Over the past year, it had been rebuilt, fortified, and turned into a full-fledged kingdom. At night, with all its lights down and only the pale shine of the moon to illuminate it, it looked so beautiful. Almost beautiful enough to distract Sally from her thoughts, but not quite. All she could think of was what had happened earlier that day. It played through her head over and over again, hard as she tried to stop it. She remembered learning of her parents' plans to explore the rest of Mobius, leaving her in charge of the Kingdom in their place.

"_If I don't fight Eggman, who will?"_

She remembered her heart skipping a beat as she proposed that Sonic rule by her side.

"_It doesn't have to be YOU, Sonic!"_

She remembered her surprise at his hesitance to accept her offer.

"_Please…say you will…"_

She remembered the sadness in her heart reflected in his eyes as he looked straight at her and told her no.

"_Sorry, Sal…I can't."_

From there, however, everything felt like a blur. Sadness, heartbreak, frustration, but most of all, anger, whirled into one, until she found her hand, almost against her will, moving across his face harder than a hammer. Looking back at it now, in the cool calm of the night, she could see she had over-reacted. Even if she was disappointed by Sonic's decision, she should not have been surprised by it. "_It's who he is,"_ she reminded herself. "_He's always running, always fighting, and as long as that voice inside of him tells him to run and fight, he'll never stop. He can't."_

She had known that for as long as she had known him, yet at that moment in time five hours, fifteen minutes, and 55 seconds ago, it had seemed…unfair to her, somehow. "_Maybe it's that he's been gone for a year…maybe I'm just not used to having him back yet…"_ she pondered as she continued to look into the night sky. And yet, even in her own mind, the answer rang false. One year or a hundred, Sally knew Sonic too well for even the longest of times apart to change her perception of him. No, Sally knew the truth was something else that had changed between them. They had, after many years of secrecy, acknowledged their love for each other shortly before Sonic's year-long absence. Because of that, Sally could not help but view the blue hedgehog differently. He was no longer just an ally or a close friend, he was her lover, and that meant she wanted to keep him safe by her side. The thought of him rushing into battle, into what could easily be his death, frightened her now in a way it had not before. "_It still doesn't change the facts: I shouldn't have acted like that, especially not in front of so many people…" _she thought guiltily. She sighed heavily, turning to her large bed. It had now been five hours, sixteen minutes, and ten seconds since she had publicly humiliated one of the most important people in her life, and she was tired of agonizing over it. She would talk to Sonic in the morning, she promised herself. She knew, no matter what happened, that they had to work this out. They just…had to. Flopping down on her bed without any grace or pretense, she found herself quite comfortable on top of her silken sheets. Tired from the stress of the day, it did not take long for her mind to grow silent as her eyes shut and she fell asleep. Yet even as the world around her turned to darkness, something in the back of her mind could feel something was…wrong. As if something, or someone, was watching her…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sonic did not like to thing long or hard about much of anything. He often found that, when he did, it always ended up making him look at things in a way he did not like. Unfortunately, every so often, his thoughts snuck up on him, and he could not help but focus his attention on them. Tonight was one of those times. He was not sure where he was running to as he passed tree after tree in the thick of the Great Forest, only that running was what he should be doing right now. Running was how he could clear his head. Only his head was very much not clear. Instead, it was full of thoughts of guilt and anger and uncertainty. "_I wish my answer could've been different, Sal…"_ he thought to himself. "_I wish I didn't have to see you cry like that…"_

Sonic had to admit, Sally's offer had taken him more than a little bit by surprise, something that did not frequently happen to a hedgehog who had fought robots, aliens, and evil wizards more than once. In a way, it was tempting. He could be with Sally as much as he wanted without having to worry about the class gap that had previously separated them. He would have the powers of royalty, which were never something to laugh at. Yet he knew that the offer had a flipside, a drawback to it that he simply could not, would not, accept. He would have to stop fighting. He would have to give up running and helping people directly on the front lines of battle. That was a prospect Sonic did not view with any sort of pleasure. It had been hard enough when Robotnik was believed dead for him to accept that his days of fighting, of putting his speed and his gifts to their best use, were over; it would be impossible for him to willingly surrender it. He knew Sally understood that. She understood it, and she STILL acted as if HE had betrayed HER when he turned her down! "_It's not FAIR!" _Sonic mentally grumbled to himself. "_After all we've been through together, one little "no" and she goes ballistic on me!"_

And yet, Sonic could not shake the feeling that he, too, held some responsibility for how poorly things had gone. He should have seen sooner just how upset Sally was about his choice, before her explosion, and taken care of things then. He could've calmed her down, explained himself better. He KNEW he could have. "_But I didn't. And now…the girl I love isn't even on speaking terms with me!"_

What would happen between them now? Would they really drift apart, after everything they had done together, after all the time they had waited for the other to confess what they already knew? Sonic did not know, and he did not have any particular desire to find out. He was afraid the answer would not be to his liking. "_Ugh. I thought I went running this late at night to get my mind OFF this, not make me think about it MORE!" _Sonic realized irritably, putting an extra burst of speed into his step in the hopes that maybe it would help. It did not take long, however, for him to realize he was being watched. Years of evading Robotnik's spy drones had given him a keen sense for that kind of thing. Screeching to a halt, he examined the forest around him, finding only the trees rustling in the wind. However, he could hear something. It was faint, just barely audible over the blowing leaves, but he could hear it. Deciding the subtle route was too boring, he decided to go all out. "OK, BUD, I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHOW YOURSELF AND GET THIS OVER WITH, HUH?" he shouted into the forest depths.

For a minute, the only response he received was his own angry echo. Just as he prepared to give up on it and leave, however, a blur of movement caught his eye. It was near the tree tops, circling downwards towards him at incredible speed. "Good…a nice li'l scrap oughta clear my head right up…" Sonic whispered to himself, dashing to meet the blur at the base of the last tree it had leapt to. The two reached the base at almost the exact same time. However, they were still a second apart when the blur came to a stop. Sonic, however, was going too fast to stop, and crashed right into the no-longer blurred newcomer. For a moment, the two lay on the ground together. Sonic recovered first, shaking his head around and getting onto his feet. "OK, Mr. Whoever-you-are, time to…"

Sonic's sentence died in his throat as he finally received his first look at his opponent.

"Well, hello there…" the newcomer said.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Darkness.

"_I am coming."_

A voice, deep and threatening.

"_I am coming for what was promised to me."_

A feeling of fear, sadness, and desperation.

"_That which was written in blood."_

A sense of foreboding.

"_That which cannot be forgotten…"_

Eyes. Dark, red, and terrible. Boring into her mind, into her soul, into her life.

"_I am coming."_

A hand. Bony, everywhere, closing in on her.

With a gasp, Sally jerked into an upright sit. Sweat trickled down her forehead and her heart felt like a jackhammer in her chest. It was only after a few moments of panic that she noticed there was light again. The light of the sun shining into her room. "A dream…" she whispered, as if to reassure herself. "It was…just a dream…"

But just like the previous night's rationalizations about Sonic, it was an assurance that felt like a lie. Sally had never in all her life had a dream so vivid, so…real. Even now, each and every word spoken to her in that terrible voice was crystal clear. The hand…the fear…it was all still with her, not at all like the fading emotions of a normal dream. For a moment, she wondered if, maybe, the dream had not been a dream at all, but a message. However, she decided to push such thoughts aside for the time being. Remembering her earlier resolution to talk with Sonic, she quickly changed her clothes and left her room. Shortly after, she found herself on the streets of Knothole Kingdom. Although she attempted to immerse herself in navigating the landscape in her search for Sonic, she could not help but notice all the stares she was receiving. Some were sympathetic, others angry or disappointed, even more others confused; she could see a range of emotions in the eyes of everyone she passed as they looked at her, but she could tell they all stemmed from the same source. They had all seen what had happened the night before, and if there was one thing Sally knew about any community, it was that opinions formed fast and hard in the minds of its people. Picking up the pace of her walk, she decided she was most likely going to find Sonic near the Great Forest, and began heading that way herself. However, even as she did, she heard a familiar booming sound. "A sonic boom…sounds like he just got back…" she said to herself.

Following the sound towards the Village Square, she soon began running. She knew Sonic never stayed in one place for long, and if she wanted to talk to him now, she'd have to be quick. Even as she ran towards the Square, another familiar sound filled her ears, this one far closer: a rapid whooshing sound, like a helicopter's propeller. "Tails…" she said to herself.

Sure enough, the young fox soon pulled up alongside Sally, his twin tails keeping him above the ground while simultaneously propelling him forward. "Hey, Sally!" he said, brightly and loud enough so that Sally could hear him over his tails.

For a brief moment, Sally felt a pang of regret in her heart; she missed the days when Tails was still young enough to call her "Aunt", and combined with the previous night's unpleasantness, that regret felt all the worse today. It passed quickly, however. Tails continued. "Um…look, I know this probably isn't my business or anything, but…are you doin' OK? I mean, ya know…after last night…" the young fox asked, obviously not comfortable with the topic but concerned for Sally nonetheless.

Sally smiled at him. At least he wasn't too old to stop caring about her. "I'm fine, Mi…Tails." She said, correcting herself from using Tails' real name, something she knew the teenager hated.

Tails did not look convinced by Sally's answer. Sally noticed that. "I mean it, Tails…in fact, I'm going to make things up with Sonic right now…" she said.

"_I hope."_ She added to herself.

Soon enough, Tails and Sally arrived at the Square, where they found the familiar sight of Sonic, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently even as the dust cloud he created disappeared into the air. "Sonic!" Sally called out.

Sonic looked to her, face bright at first; at the sight of her, however, he soured slightly. "Oh…hey, Sal…Tails…" he said distractedly. He quickly turned away from them, his foot beginning to tap even faster than before.

It was not hard for Sally to realize the awkwardness of Sonic's position, and decided to make good on the promise she had made to herself last night: it was time to set things right. Taking a deep breath, she stepped toward Sonic. "Look, Sonic…about the other night…"

Before she could get any further than that, however, a tremendous burst of wind followed by a second sonic boom passed right in front of her, knocking her backwards. Normally, she would have been able to balance herself, but the force came too close too quickly for her to have time, and so she fell straight on her back. Even as Tails kneeled down to help her up, Sally raised her head to see who had knocked her down. To say the least, it did not look like what Sally had expected. The newcomer was a slender female bat, much like the treasure hunter Rouge, save that this new bat was taller and with silver fur instead of white. Her wings were also substantially larger than Rogue's, and her attire was radically different. She wore glittering gold jewelry on her neck, wrists, and hip, as well as a form-fitting green tunic and a pair of black leather boots, as well as a trio of earrings on her right ear. Back on her feet, Sally ignored the urge to dust herself off, instead looking this new bat over. "So this is your home…Me likey…" the bat said silkily to Sonic.

The hedgehog merely chuckled and scratched his nose in reply. Sally immediately began feeling oddly nervous over the interaction between Sonic and the bat. "_It's nothing…he must've met her this morning and decided to show her around…even though she's a complete stranger…" _she consoled herself, even as her face scrunched up unpleasantly as she realized the implications of such a situation. Seeing Sally's unease, Tails decided to step up. "Hi, Sonic!" he started.

"Hey, bro…" Sonic said, lighter than before, but Tails could still tell there was little joy in his voice.

"So…who's your new friend?" Tails asked.

"Me? I'm Lilith…" the bat purred, spreading her wings vainly as she announced her name.

Now that the stranger had a name, Sally's confidence returned to her. "_I'll thank you for that later, Miles…"_ she mentally laughed.

"Well…Lilith…" Sally said, pausing around Lilith's name out of unease, "I really am quite pleased to meet you, but Sonic and I were just about to have a rather important talk…"

"Sounds boring, not at all fit for a 'hog of action like you, eh, Sonic?" Lilith interrupted.

"A-freakin'-greed…" Sonic laughed bitterly. "Sorry, Sal, but you 'n' me have nothin' to talk about…"

Sally sighed. She had been afraid he would react like this, though she suspected Lilith's presence was not helping. Still, she had to keep trying. "Sonic, please…" she started calmly.

"No," Sonic cut her off. "You ask me to give up my life to be your stinkin' _lap-dog _and then, when I turn it down, you freak out in front of _everyone._" He said angrily, practically growling. "There's no discussion about it, Sal. You screwed up big."

"That's tellin' her…" Lilith laughed agreeingly.

Sally shot a disapproving glare at the bat, but decided to focus on Sonic for now. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I didn't mess up, but don't you think you're overreacting?" she asked, her calm wavering slightly. Something felt…wrong…with Sonic's tone; Sally could not tell what it was, but she could distinctly feel it there. "I mean, it's not like you're _blameless _in this…" she said.

The moment she did, however, she realized her mistake. She had been distracted by Sonic's tone and had spoken without thinking, and now she had foolishly said something that was sure to instigate Sonic. From his previous outburst, she knew that could only lead to more trouble. Sonic's face contorting into a rather angry expression confirmed her fear. "Oh really? I guess it's _my _fault you spazzed last night?" he asked indignantly.

Sally reached out gently to him. "I…I didn't mean it like that, Sonic…I just…"

She hesitated. It would be hard to recover from her slip-up, but she knew she could do it if she thought it through. Unfortunately, she would not receive the chance, as Lilith decided to take advantage of her pause to step into the conversation, batting Sally's hand away from Sonic at the same time.

"'I just' nothin', honey, I'm pretty sure Blue here said you two had nothin' to talk about." She said, exposing her fangs with an amused grin.

Stepping away from Sally, Sonic turned his back to her with a snap of his fingers. "Oh yeah! I _did _say that, didn't I? Guess _some _people aren't good listeners!" he said sarcastically.

With a twitch of her right ear, Lilith laughed, "And others listen a bit too well for their own good!"

Sonic's only response was a dismissive wave of the hand. "I'm done here, Lil. What say you 'n' me get movin', huh? I've still got a lot to show ya…" he said, a strange mixture of excitement and…disappointment?

Listening to him speak, Sally was unsure if she wasn't simply hearing what she wanted to hear, but she was sure she sensed it in his voice. Regardless, however, Lilith nodded in response, then, sticking her tongue out at Sally, waved goodbye. With another burst of speed, the two were both gone, leaving a bewildered Sally and Tails to process the unusual scene they had just witnessed. For several minutes, neither said a word. There were no words to say. Neither had ever seen Sonic act so…distant…from them. Sally was particularly unnerved at his behavior towards Lilith; they could not have met more than several hours ago and yet they acted like best friends. The worst part for her, however, was that she had failed _again. _Her own carelessness had shattered any chance of reconciliation with Sonic at that moment, and she feared it might be beyond her grasp now. For his part, Tails was equally unsure of how to react to everything. He wanted to believe Sonic was merely venting, just getting some things off his chest, but he could tell the hedgehog had been very serious, and if there was one thing Tails liked less than an unhappy Sonic, it was an unhappy Sonic who made Sally unhappy too. The young fox wanted things to work out for the two most important people in his life, and he had hoped his being there would have helped; instead, he now wondered if he hadn't only made it worse. Deciding to do _something _to settle things down, he decided to speak. "Are…are you OK, Sally?" he asked gently, still ill at ease about prying to her about her feelings. At first, the princess did not answer.

Her eyes had become fixated on the spot where Sonic had stood only seconds before. Staring silently at that spot, she felt her hands tightening into fists. She did not know what she would do about Sonic from here, but she did know one thing: she could not allow this to dominate her life. She had duties and responsibilities to attend to; if Sonic did not want to give her a chance, that was his choice. "_That's _his _choice, not mine," _she reminded herself. "_and we're both going to have to live with it."_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I'm glad _that's _over with," Sonic shouted to Lilith as the two continued to run towards a destination neither knew at incredible speed.

"See? I _told _ya you'd feel better once you got rid of squirrel-girl!" Lilith answered with a laugh, her wings flapping fast and hard to assist her running.

The hedgehog nodded with a grin that hid the confusion he felt inside. It was true, he _did _feel better after what he had said, but there was something bothering him on the fringes of his thoughts. His mind felt…hazy…disoriented…he could tell he was not thinking straight. Of course, maybe that was just because he did not _want _to think straight. Maybe thinking in a haze was _better _right now than having to look the world in the face. Maybe, just this once, he could just run and keep running and not have to worry about anything else, like…like…blue eyes, red hair, brown fur…the image was there, but the name…it felt like it was slipping away from him. "_Sally…"_ he heard a voice in his own mind say, like an echo far in the distance.

"You OK, hon?" Lilith asked, seeing Sonic's smile fade into a look of confusion.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…I…I'm fine, just, ya know…thinkin'…" Sonic answered half-heartedly.

"About?" Lilith prompted.

"About…Sally…" he said, wincing at the last word as if saying it required great physical effort.

Lilith grimaced. "Well, we can't have _that _bothering you, now _can _we? Let's stop for a sec…" Lilith said, her ominous tone passing right by the distracted hedgehog without his taking notice. Both ceased their running, standing still now amidst a storm of dust swirling around them. Even as the dust faded away, Lilith walked towards Sonic. "Come here…" she said soothingly.

Sonic stood still for a moment, then decided to oblige. He knew from their first meeting the night before that Lilith was…comforting. "_Maybe _she _can clear my head for me…"_ he thought hopefully.

The two embraced tenderly, Lilith moving her hands relaxingly around Sonic's long quills. "Shh…now, who was it that was bothering you again?" she whispered to him, her hands beginning to emit an eerie red glow.

"Sa…S…someone…" Sonic muttered, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. "_What _was _her name? What'd she even look like…?" _he wondered exhaustedly, again becoming keenly aware that something was wrong with his thoughts. "_She was…someone important…I think…"_ he tried saying aloud, though the words never made it past his mind.

"No one…" Lilith continued, her hands now moving around Sonic's body, the glow intensifying. "She's _no one…_"

Sonic found himself becoming more and more tired…somehow, Lilith's words sounded absolutely true. "No one…'s no one…" he muttered, his eyes slowly closing.

"That's right," Lilith cooed, "and there's no need to worry over _no one_, now is there?"

Sonic slowly slumped down onto Lilith's shoulder, almost entirely asleep. "No need...t'worry…" he slurred, his eyes fully closing at last.

For a moment, he merely leaned on Lilith, asleep. The bat smiled, stroking Sonic's head comfortingly, the glow around her hands slowly fading. "There, there…feeling better now?" she asked with a light chuckle.

Sonic blinked several times, then opened his eyes and stood up again. Stretching his arms, he yawned. "Yeah, actually, much better. Thanks, Lil, you're the best." He said.

"Not a problem, Sonic. Now…about Sally…" she said, cutting herself off at the end in anticipation.

"Who?" Sonic asked.

"Nevermind." Lilith laughed. "So where to now?"

"Hmm…" Sonic thought for only a moment. "I dunno, just keep goin' the direction we were goin' in before." He said with a shrug.

"Sounds good." The two sped off again.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Darkness.

"_Your defenses are breaking…"_

A voice, louder than before, closer to her.

"_Soon your promise will be fulfilled…"_

A feeling of fear, sadness, and desperation.

"_A promise written in blood can not be forgotten."_

A sense of claustrophobia, as if the whole world was closing in on her.

"_You chose this…"_

Eyes. Dark, red, and terrible, within the face of a misshapen horned skull. They were boring into her soul, into her life, into her world…

"_Remember that when this is over…"_

A hand. Bony, everywhere, crushing her in its grip…

"Sally-girl? Wake up, Sal!"

The voice had changed…it was not dark or threatening at all anymore…it was soft, a familiar southern accent gracing it.

"B…Bunnie…?" Sally muttered as she opened her eyes, again realizing she had been suffering through a horrid nightmare.

Raising her head, she looked into the familiar green eyes of her close friend, Bunnie Rabbot. The half-roboticized rabbit looked concerned. "Y'all feelin' alright there, Sally-girl?" she asked, placing her non-robotic hand on Sally's shoulder. Sally smiled at her friend's concern, even while piecing together how she had come to this moment. She had just finished a Royal meeting about increasing the city's boarder defenses and had left to share lunch with Bunnie. They had gone to a field near the edge of the city to eat and Bunnie had gotten up to stretch her legs. "_I must've dozed off while she was gone…and had that terrible nightmare again…"_ she thought even as she said out loud, "I'm fine, Bunnie, I was just dreaming…"

"_But it WASN'T the same dream…"_ she noted to herself. "_It was different, just slightly…but different…like a progression…"_

"Oh really? Well, fill me in, sugah, what was it about?" Bunnie giggled, sitting down next to her close friend.

"I, uh, can't really remember…" Sally lied. "_No need to get Bunnie worried…"_

"Iffen ya say so." Bunnie said happily, only slightly convinced. "Now what say we'all finish this here lunch 'fore it spoils?" she asked, placing a small basket of food down in front of them. Sally took her food from it and ate, but she did not focus much on it. Something was going on, and she intended to find out what.

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Darkness in Dreams

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's note: And now for chapter two. Not a lot to say at this point, other than a reiteration of last chapter's warning: This takes place in the Archie Comics continuity. If that bothers you, leave now, because I refuse to tolerate any bullshit flames about which continuity is the best one. Otherwise, enter with an open mind and enjoy. Even if you're not Archie-Sonic's biggest fan, you might enjoy this one. J

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Gamecube (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter One: Darkness in Dreams

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

"Work through the pain." Knuckles commanded himself, launching another punch into a large boulder right in front of him.

Pain shot through Knuckles' whole arm, traveling quickly through his body like a lightning bolt. Grunting, Knuckles repeated the action with his other arm, again causing great pain. To the echidna's satisfaction, he could see the smallest of cracks in the boulder where he had pounded on it (and had BEEN pounding on it for almost three straight hours now). Of course, he had to see the crack through a veil of blood. Hours of constant attacking had caused Knuckles' hands to split open at the root of the razor knuckles that gave him his name. His hands were bleeding and badly, but he did not care. He was going to split this rock in two if it took him all day, even if it killed him. Indeed, having died once and been reborn, Knuckles had little to fear from death. However, his return had come at a price. The great powers he had been born with-enhanced strength, control of Chaos energies, and the ability to glide along the winds using his dreadlocks-had been taken away. That was why he came to this rock quarry, week after week, to practice. He would regain his strength, at least, through hard work and practice. He had to.

"Breathe…don't rush things…" he reminded himself aloud, taking a deep breath and re-assuming his fighting stance, both fists, blood included, raised in front of him.

In the year since Sonic had disappeared, Angel Island had been conquered by Robotnik. Knuckles and Julie-Su had escaped, along with the Chaotix, but the rest of his family and friends had not. Not a day had gone by since that Knuckles did not think of going back to Angel Island and re-taking it, even though King Acorn had expressly forbidden Knuckles from taking such action. If it was not for Julie-Su's calming presence in Knothole, he most likely would have violated the order long ago and gone to the island himself. However, he had not, and instead focused on training himself so that, when he did, he would be ready. Once again, he began slamming his bloodied fists into the boulder over and over, ignoring the increasing pain.

He stopped when he heard a small crumbling noise from nearby. "I wish you'd stop doing this…" a familiar voice chided.

"Julie-Su…" Knuckles acknowledged, turning to face the pink-furred echidna. He had told Julie-Su about his training as soon as he had started, and while she feared for his safety, she respected and trusted him enough to allow him to continue. However, she was still immensely uncomfortable with it. "_I just got you back,"_ she had told him the night he had informed her of his training, "_I don't want to lose you again so soon…"_

Knuckles truly appreciated her allowing him to continue his training. She understood he could not bear simply sitting out battles on the sidelines, and had to do something to make himself stronger again. It was a reminder to Knuckles of just how deeply she cared for him, and after all the tension he had been feeling, particularly over the last few days, he felt all the more relieved to know it. "_Somehow",_ he promised to himself as Julie-Su walked towards him, "_I'll show her how much _I _care for _her _when this is all over…"_

The metallic casing she wore on her dreadlocks gleaming in the dying light of the setting sun, Julie-Su made her way to Knuckles and hugged him. Before, it had felt awkward to even think about her feelings for the echidna; her life had been filled with so much betrayal and hurt before she had met Knuckles that the idea of placing trust in her emotions had become alien to her. That had changed because of him. What about him had done it, she could not say for sure, but whatever it was, it had given her the strength to believe in her own emotions again. Their time together in Knothole had only served to strengthen their bond, and she now felt more than ever that she loved him.

"So," Knuckles asked with a smile, quite enjoying their embrace, "what brings you out here? You don't usually watch me train…not that I mind…"

Julie-Su smiled. At the sight of Knuckles' bloodied hands, however, her smile faded. "_This is what he wants,"_ she reminded herself, "_and I just have to live with that..."_

"I just…needed some company, 's'all…" she said, a twinge of melancholy in her voice.

"Something wrong?" Knuckles asked, picking his gloves up off the ground and placing them back on his hands. "You sound upset….did something happen?"

Julie-Su had to chuckle at her boyfriend's concern. "Not to me, no. It's just…well, Sonic and the Princess…"

"I know what you mean…" Knuckles nodded.

Sonic and Sally were both good friends of his, and seeing them as unhappy as they had been was hard on him.

"So…how've they been doing?" Knuckles asked, beginning to do stretch exercises with his legs.

He himself had made an effort to avoid them; this was one conflict he had little interest in taking part in, and as much as he would have liked to help the two of them mend things between them, he feared his inexperience in such matters would lead to his causing even more harm. Better, he felt, to let them work it out themselves, difficult as it might be.

"Not good. I heard they had another fight a couple days ago, this time in the Square…rumor has it Sonic was even with another woman…" Julie-Su said, finishing her sentence with an exasperated sigh. "It's really a shame…they seemed to be so happy together…"

Knuckles nodded knowingly as he moved on to arm stretches. "I know…they seemed like the proof that things could work out at the end of this nightmare." He said, a sadness born from experience in his voice.

"_That hits the nail right on the head, actually…"_ Julie-Su thought to herself, lazily drawing the small laser gun she carried around in her bootstrap.

Having lost her home and her family to Robotnik in the last year, she had indeed begun to wonder if there was any _hope_ left. Her life, for as long as she could remember, had been one long struggle. There had been pauses and reprieves, but none had lasted too long. Being…with Knuckles…had helped her begin to realize that maybe, just _maybe_, there would come a day that her life would be peaceful and the struggle would end. Seeing Sonic and Sally together…how happy they were…how being with the other made it seem possible for them to do _anything_…it had seemed like the proof that life _could _be more than just battle and conflict. And then…then it had just fallen apart. She _wanted _to believe it was just a tiff, that it would blow over, but the more she thought about it, the more she could not help but think that it was much worse. The rumors of Sonic's cruel behavior had only worsened her fear. "Being in Knothole right now…it's like being in a pressure cooker or something. _Everyone's _tense about Sonic and Sally…it piles on top of my _own _worries and makes me feel like I'm gonna EXPLODE!" she explained in a burst of breath, taking aim and firing her laser gun at a far-off boulder, blowing it into pieces.

After the loud explosion, everything in the quarry was silence. Knuckles stared, dumbfounded at Julie-Su's outburst, towards the smoking remains of the boulder; he had no idea that things had been affecting her so badly. "Maybe it's time _I _step in…" he suggested, a slight tremble of surprise in his voice.

Aiming at a new boulder, Julie-Su shot a quick glance of bemusement at him. "_You? _No offense, but this isn't exactly your forte…" she said drolly, firing again at her new target, again successful in destroying it.

No longer in shock over Julie-Su's reaction, Knuckles answered with far more composure, "Maybe not, but they're my friends; I should do _something_."

Julie-Su grinned at his earnestness. It was one of the things about him she found so endearing. "If that's what you think is best, go for it; I won't stop you…" she laughed.

Knuckles thumbed his nose at her with a chuckle. "What, you don't think I can do it?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.

"I didn't say that…" Julie-Su said mock-innocently.

Knuckles merely laughed and began walking out of the quarry.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"…but thankfully, Eggman seems to have become dormant after our last ba…Sally? Sally, are you awake?"

Geoffrey St. John sighed in frustration. The meeting of Knothole's royal council had begun only half an hour ago, and through it all, Princess Sally had dozed off three times already. This was the fourth time, and Geoffrey was beginning to grow frustrated. "Hm…? Wha…? Oh…I'm sorry, did I doze off again?" Sally asked, her eyes fluttering open, her voice obviously groggy.

"Sally, this isn't like you at all. Are you feeling alright?" Geoffrey asked concernedly.

Sally waved dismissively at him. "It's nothing, really. I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately…" she answered with a yawn and a stretch.

A silence hung over the room. It made Sally feel amazingly awkward, even out of place, and she suddenly noticed just how small the room she was in seemed. She sat at the head of a large, rectangular table. On either side of the table were three seats, each one seating a different member of the small council her father had made shortly after Sonic's disappearance. Along with Geoffrey, head of Knothole's military activity, there was Sally's old friend Rotor as chief of scientific activities; Dr. Quack as head medical official; Sonic's Uncle, the recently de-roboticized Sir Charles Hedgehog, as first royal advisor and secondary chief of scientific activities; Hershey Katt as chief civilian representative; and finally Antoine D'Collette, another of Sally's childhood friends, as secondary royal advisor and head of security. All six of them seemed to be staring directly into Sally's soul right then, like…the nightmare eyes…."_No! Do _NOT _think about that right now! You have _other _things to worry about!"_ Sally's exhausted mind reminded her. Shaking her head to wake herself, Sally looked back at her council. "I apologize for my exhaustion; I'll see to it that I get more sleep in the future. For now, let's finish this meeting, shall we?" she stated in the confident tone of voice the council was used to.

"Ai am zee only one who haz not reportedd een." Antoine answered, his heavy French accent obscuring his speech as usual.

Sally looked to the young coyote in response, awaiting his report. She had long noticed Antoine's perculiar shift towards a cooler, more callous behavior. Gone was the cowardly but chivalrous young knight Sally had grown up with. In his place was an unfeeling, oftentimes even cruel soldier. It had started shortly after Sonic's disappearance a year ago, but had gotten worse ever since. It had even led to a termination of Anotine's relationship with Bunnie Rabbott, something Sally felt she could relate to right about then. "_And of course, my mind wanders to _Sonic _when it SHOULD be focused on the meeting…"_ Sally mentally sighed to herself as Antoine gave the latest update on city security

"Beyond zee usual reef-raff, zere ees leetle too reeport; howevair, zere ees a subject I vish to deescuss weeth zees counceel." Antoine said, his voice cold and monotone.

"You may speak…" Sally said, hiding the distraction she felt inside with her bold tone.

"Eet involves you, my preencess," Antoine continued, immediately grabbing everyone's attention, "az vell as your nephew, Sir Charlez."

"Sonic?" Uncle Chuck asked with a raised eyebrow, in unison with Sally's own surprised explanation of the name; had Antoine somehow sensed she was thinking of him?

"Yess. I am vondering eef hees, 'ow you zay…eendeescretiowns," Antoine said, struggling with the word "indiscretions" as best he could, "…'ave note beegunn to eefeckt your leedairsheep skeels, my preencess."

For the second time in only a few minutes, all sound vanished from the room. Unlike Sally, Antoine did not seem to be intimidated by the stillness. Sally was the first to regain her composure. She had to admit, she was surprised; in spite of his new, more arrogant behavior, Sally had never expected Antoine of all people to so publicly approach her about such a private matter. Doing her best to keep her anger at his decision in check, she stated in a controlled but powerful voice, "My personal matters are my own, General D'Coolette, and I do not allow them to influence my life as a member of the Royal Family."

She made sure to call him by his last name; ironically, she only used to do that when she was angry at him, but had recently begun doing so to show him the proper respect as a member of the council. Her statement, however, was only half-true. Her previous talk with Sonic and Lilith two days ago had shaken her worse than she wanted to admit, and her nightmares had grown worse. She had them every time she slept, and each time she had the nightmare, the same one over and over again, it felt…closer, somehow. Whenever she awoke from it, she found her own fear of it made it next to impossible to go back to sleep. And Sonic…no one had seen him, not even Tails, since their fight in the Square. Two whole days and he had not even come to Knothole. No matter how much she wanted to, Sonic still held a prominent place in her thoughts, and combined with the nightmares, it had begun to take its toll on her. "Your beehaveeor over zee last two dayz suggests ozerwize, my preencess." Antoine responded to Sally, snapping her back to attention.

Even as Sally mentally berated herself for losing focus yet again, the coyote continued. "Ever seence zee 'edge'og reefuzed your proposal to aseest in ruling ze kingdom in your fahzerr's abseence," he said, and Sally noted he avoided using Sonic's name as he had once done when they had been much younger and he had held a great animosity towards Sonic, "you 'ave not been able to fokees on our meetings, and 'ave been sloppy in your deeceesion-makeenk. I feel I 'ave been sailent about zees for long eenoff."

Rotor was quick to respond. "I don't know what you're talking about. Sally seems fine to me." He said loudly and clearly, although Sally could tell he too had noticed the same thing and was defending her more as a friend than a council member.

"Look, we're _all_ a little on-edge right now. Maybe it's best if we discuss this later…" Uncle Chuck said calmly, his eyes closed in focus. The aging hedgehog chose not to mention his own discomfort at Antoine's mentioning of Sonic's influence on Sally; he was having enough trouble struggling with his worry for his nephew without Sonic getting involved in the council's politics. He, as well as his brother Jules and sister-in-law Bernie, was holding out hope that Sonic would return soon and they had nothing to worry about, but it was a hope that was fading fast.

"I agree with Sir Charles; motion to adjourn." Geoffrey stated coolly.

"I second the motion." Hershey said.

"All in favor, say aye." Sally said, swallowing the breath of relief she almost exhaled when all but Antoine "aye"-d their approval. "Meeting adjourned." She said, rising out of her chair and quickly making her way to the exit; the others followed suit.

As he passed her, Antoine gave Sally a cold stare. "Vee shawl feeneesh zees next time, my preencess…" he said emotionlessly. Sally almost shivered at the lifelessness of his voice; there was no way it could have belonged to the Antoine she knew.

"_Then again…" _she mentally sighed, "_there was 'no way' that Sonic and I would ever fight like we did two days ago…"_

She sighed, out loud this time, as the other members of the council walked past, talking amongst themselves. She hated to admit it, but a part of her longed for the days _before _the defeat of the original Robotnik. Things had been…simpler then, easier to understand. Things made _sense _to her then. "Now nothing seems _right _anymore…" she groaned to herself.

"You know what they say: sometimes, it's darkest just before dawn…" Sally heard the familiar voice of Knuckles utter cryptically.

She turned to her left to see the red echidna, arms folded confidently across his chest, leaning against the wall near the door to the council meeting room. "I wish I could believe that right now…" Sally said, looking glumly at the floor.

Unfolding his arms, Knuckles stepped towards the young squirrel. With a sigh, Sally lifted her eyes to meet his. "So…what brings you here? You don't usually take an interest in politics…" she asked, her voice lightened somewhat.

"I wanted to see how you were holding up," Knuckles said sincerely. "Not very good, from the look of it."

Sally laughed sadly. "That obvious, huh?" she asked, her shoulders sagging slightly.

Knuckles mentally slapped himself. "_No no NO! This is NOT how you _comfort _someone!" _he could hear Julie-Su scolding him in his thoughts.

With a deep sigh, the young princess returned her gaze to the floor. "I…I'm sorry, Sally, that came out _all _wrong…" Knuckles started, resisting the urge to flail his arms in desperation.

"It's OK, Knuckles…" Sally said simply and flatly. "I appreciate your concern…but this is really something I need to handle on my own."

Turning to leave, she was surprised when she felt Knuckles' strong grip on her shoulder. "Not so fast." He said, firmly and confidently now. "Shutting people out is no way to solve your problems; believe me, I've tried. All it does is make things worse."

Sally looked back at the echidna, catching his crystalline eyes in her own. She could tell from the look on his face he was fully serious, and that he was not going to give up on this, on _her_, without a fight. She smiled, truly and fully, for the first time in days. "Maybe some things _are _still right after all…" she whispered to herself. Placing her hand on Knuckles' as a signal that she was not going anywhere, she faced him fully now. "Tell me what's been happening…" Knuckles said roughly; catching himself, he hastily added, "…please?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sonic did not know where he was. He did not care. He did not know how he had gotten here, but this too was a fact that meant little to him. Standing fully erect, staring emotionlessly, almost lifelessly, ahead of him, he remained completely still. He was in the middle of a large hallway. The floors and walls were made of the same rusted brown stones, vines and moss weaving in and out of the cracks. The walls were lined with torches and carvings, as well as large statues of bizarre, skeleton-like creatures. None of these details entered Sonic's thoughts, however. Instead, he simply remained where he was. His thoughts were a blur, oddly detached from himself and yet still there. There were faces without names…places where a face, a memory, _should _have been, but where there none…and Lilth. "Lilith…" he repeated out loud, a strange mix of nothingness and lust, as the name finally clicked in his mind.

Yes, Lilith. She had a name. A face. A body. She was whole. She made sense. "You said my name, Blue. Good." He heard a voice…_her _voice…echo throughout the hallway, though he could not tell where it was coming from. "We're making progress, then. Follow my voice, Sonic…follow my voice…"

"Lilith…" he said again, more alive this time than before. He had heard her…calling to him. She wanted him with her. If he went…maybe she could make him feel whole too. She could make him feel alive again. "I'm coming!" he shouted, his whole being seeming to unify from its disparity around that single concept. Then, with the incredible speed he was named for, he zoomed through the tunnels. Anyone else moving at his speed would surely have crashed into one of the many fallen pillars and overturned stones or missed any of the turns that presented themselves in the hall. Sonic moved through them as if by instinct, never even coming close to allowing them to halt him. Lilith had called. He would answer, and nothing would get in his way. Soon, he came to the end of the long hallway, only to find himself in the middle of a gargantuan room, a place his now-more-alert mind immediately noticed looked like a place of worship, a temple of some kind. The domed roof was comprised of a series of four large, stained glass images depicting what looked like a story. The first image showed a large, glowing object and four silhouetted heads beneath its light. The second showed a strange, horned creature that looked like a deformed skeleton wearing a flowing red robe facing the light, fire surrounding its body. The third showed the skeleton-creature covered in large bands of blackness jutting out of what looked like Mobius. The final image was pure black, with large red eyes on it. What they meant, Sonic did not know. However, he was slowly becoming aware again, and that awareness warned him the images had significance. The warning was quickly silenced as Sonic remembered why he had come: Lilith was here, somewhere. Scanning the room, he got a feel for its structure, in case Lilith was hiding and he was supposed to find her. It was bare, save for the usual signs of ruin and a large altar on the opposite end of the room from Sonic. The altar was comprised of three large stone steps leading to a rectangular platform. On either side of the platform were golden torches, lit and burning brightly. "Nice job, Blue. You made it." A familiar purr echoed throughout the room.

"Lilith…?" Sonic asked, looking around the room in vain to find the bat. Suddenly, the walls of the room began to ooze a strange black liquid, almost as if the walls were bleeding. The many strands of black slithered right in front of Sonic, coalescing together to create a swirling pool of darkness. Sonic could only stare at it, wondering what it was. He was answered when, from the center of the darkness, a shape began to emerge, taking form and peeling away to reveal Lilith, standing mere inches from the hedgehog.

"You're progressing a _lot _faster than we anticipated…" she said, an electric joy buzzing in her words as she stretched her wings and arms as if she had just awoken from a long sleep. "We thought it'd be much harder to rebuild your mind after we…purified it…but you've proved us wrong, Blue. Good work."

Sonic could not help but smile. Lilith was happy. That could only be good. "I'm really proud of ya…" she said warmly, placing Sonic in a loving embrace that the hedgehog was all too glad to return. For a while, that was how they remained. They separated in surprise, however, when a raspy voice echoed through the chamber. "Enough. Bring him, Lilith…" it hissed, a rattling sound like metal scraping against stone. Looking to the altar, Lilith sighed in annoyance.

"Looks like the fun's over, Blue…Amodeus wants to see you. C'mon, let's go." She said exasperatedly, heading up the stairs to the altar.

Already missing the warmth of her touch, Sonic followed Lilith wordlessly. Although his thoughts had stabilized, he still felt disoriented and unsure of what to say. Instead, he chose simply to follow Lilith's lead and wait until he had a better grip on himself. Once Sonic had joined her on the altar, Lilith kneeled down to the ground and closed her eyes. "Fakensor Relkaw Daxis, Elt Su Ssap!" she murmured in a language Sonic could not understand.

As she finished her chant, Lilith thrust her arms forward and opened her hands up, a frightening red glow coming from her palms. The entire altar began to glow the same way, and the light soon grew brighter and brighter until Sonic could no longer see anything beyond its borders. Just as quickly as it had flared, however, the light vanished. When it cleared, Sonic realized that, while he and Lilith were still on the same altar, they were no longer in the same room. Surrounded by darkness, Sonic could only vaguely tell they were in a room at all now, thanks to the small glimpses of light given to him by the torches. Lilith, standing up again, looked to the hedgehog to see his head darting from side to side, trying to make out his new location. Grinning, she said, "Here, let me clear things up for ya, Blue."

Waving her right arm in front of her, Lilith watched in amusement as torch after torch lit aflame, revealing the new room. It resembled the underground chamber on Angel Island that housed the Master Emerald, diamonds on its walls reflecting the firelight. The ground was marble, and behind the altar, a towering gate was the only door or window of any kind. "Welcome to your new home." Lilith said with a laugh.

"This is no time for games, Lilith…the time for action draws near…" the hissing voice said, no longer an echo but identifiably close by. Looking to the source of the voice, Sonic saw that in front of the altar was a large throne, seemingly constructed from the skeletons of various dead creatures. Sitting there, staring at Sonic with an intensity that even the brave blue hedgehog found unnerving, was an elderly goat whose sole clothing was a blood-red robe hung around his neck with a golden chain. The bony fingers of his right hand were curled around the middle of a long wooden staff that had a large, bizarrely shaped skull at its top. His right horn was cut off half-way, a scar drifting down from its root all the way across the goat's left eye and down to his chin. "Are you sure he is ready?" the goat rasped, drumming his fingers up and down his staff.

Lilith nodded enthusiastically. "His memory of his friends is gone, and his mind is stabilizing quickly, Amodeus!" She said happily, giving Sonic a name to place with the goat.

"'Stabilizing quickly' is not the same as 'ready'!" Amodeus barked solemnly. "His ability to obey our orders is crucial to the rebirth of our master! If anything should go wrong…"

"Yeah, yeah, gloom 'n' doom, blah blah blah. I'm telling you, he's fine!" Lilith interrupted sarcastically.

"This is not a _GAME_, Lilith!" Amodeus roared, slamming his free hand onto the armrest of his throne.

Lilith looked pleadingly to Sonic. "_He _is _ready,"_ she thought to herself, "_I_ know _he is! If only I could prove it…"_

The look of need in Lilith's violet eyes sparked something deep inside his mind. All thoughts of doubt and confusion seemed to vanish instantly, replaced instead by an irresistible urge to act on Lilith's behalf. Stepping off the altar, the hedgehog zoomed up to Amodeus' throne, and launched a punch straight at the goat's face before Lilith or Amodeus had time to react. However, just before he made contact, Sonic stopped. His fist rested right in front of Amodeus' face, so close the goat could feel Sonic's glove nestled on the tips of his aged fur. "So…" Sonic said, his voice low and menacing, "think I'm ready now?" A devious smile had formed on the hedgehog's face, and Lilith gave him a loud whistling cheer from the altar.

"ATTABOY, BLUE!" she shouted, jumping up and down joyfully.

Amodeus was still for a moment. Eventually, he began clapping, and smiled as well, though his was like that of a predator ready to pounce. "Yes," he hissed, "you're ready."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"…and every time I've had it, the dream seems to…progress a little, like it's moving forward to give me a whole message." Sally finished explaining.

She sat with Knuckles at a small, secluded table in the main room of The Stag's Hoof, Knothole's most popular diner. The echidna had suggested a lunchtime chat about Sally's problems, and the Hoof had come to mind immediately. The place was always so busy that the presence of two of Knothole's most prolific denizens would go unnoticed and unheard in the crowd and the din. That was where the two had been for the last few hours, enjoying their meal and each other's company, while simultaneously discussing Sally's troubles over the last two days. Knuckles had taken interest especially in Sally's nightmares, and the conversation had turned to them. Now that he knew the whole story, the echidna scratched his chin in thought, taking in all the information.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Knuckles said after giving the matter some thought. "These nightmares you've been having are definitely NOT normal…"

"Well, _I _could have told you that." Sally chuckled.

Knuckles grinned at Sally's joke; it was good to see her mood lightening. "The way I see it, I'm thinking someone…some _thing_…is trying to communicate with you and it does NOT sound friendly." He said, returning to the subject at hand.

"But who? Why? How?" Sally blurted. "The voice talks like we've met before, but I have NO idea who it could possibly belong to."

Knuckles again scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…it might be more complicated than simply a figure from your past…perhaps someone connected to your family somehow…" he pondered out loud. Putting his hand down, he continued, "Still, I don't think we're going to make a lot of progress just sitting here talking about it."

Sally nodded. "I assume, of course, you have a better idea."

Again, the echidna was pleased to hear some life in Sally's voice again. "As a matter of fact, I do. I managed to take the Book of Myths with me when Julie-Su and I escaped Angel Island. It's at my hut on the other side of town, and there might be something in there that can help."

Sally remembered the Book. Knuckles had told her about it a few years ago. It supposedly contained every myth, legend, and supernatural occurrence ever recoded in Mobian history. Whether that was true or not, neither Sally nor knuckles knew, but it was indisputable that the Book contained more information on such things than any other tome on the planet, and it seemed as good a resource as any to decipher her nightmares. "I'll swing by my hut as soon as I can and pick it up." Knuckles said. "You should probably go home yourself, try and get some nightmare-free sleep…"

The two stood to leave. As they did, Sally looked at her old friend and was struck by a sudden surge of…hope. For two straight days, she had thought she was alone without Sonic, helpless and trapped in a downward spiral that seemed endless. Yet in only a matter of hours, a guardian born and bred to be emotionally withdrawn had shown her how wrong she was. She was _not _alone, she _could _fight this, and she had Knuckles to thank for that knowledge. As he began walking to the exit, she reached out to him and said, strongly but quietly, "Wait."

Knuckles stopped and turned to her with a slight, "Hm?"

"Thank you, Knuckles. You…you've really helped me out of a big funk, and I…I just…that means a lot to me. Thank you." She said, stumbling slightly throughout, trying her best to not overanalyze her words and bog her message down.

Knuckles merely grinned. "What are friends for?"

With that, the two left the Hoof to return home.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Falling.

"_You called to me."_

She was definitely falling.

"_Do you remember?"_

The familiar skyscrapers of Robotropolis rose higher and higher above her.

"_I know _I _remember…"_

The wind beat against her back. A cut rope was gripped futilely in her hand.

"_I remember the delicious taste of your fear…"_

Suddenly, she felt it. Every inch of her body erupted in pain. She could feel her senses dulling. She could hear her bones breaking.

"_I remember the sweet smell of your blood…"_

Her blood…she could feel it oozing out of her…

"_I remember the wondrous feeling of your turmoil…"_

She was falling. Again? Hadn't she hit the ground already?

"_And then…I came to you…"_

The skyscrapers were gone. Her pain was gone. She was falling…floating…

"_I came to you with an offer…"_

Light. Darkness. They flew past her eyes and would not stop.

"_And you…"_

Light.

"…_SAID…"_

Darkness.

"**_YES!"_**

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sally shrieked as she lurched up in her bed, drenched in sweat and clutching her sheet tightly to her chest. Panting heavily, she looked around in fear, trying desperately to calm herself. The dream again. Closer than ever before. This time…this time she had seen the moment of what many had once believed her death. Her fall from the original Robotnik's citadel in Robotropolis. "_Is THAT what this is about?"_ she wondered. "_Some sort of…psychological trauma? No…no, it's not that…"_

Looking outside her balcony window, she could see it was still dark out. Realizing she would NOT be getting to sleep soon after _that _nightmare, she contemplated simply waiting in bed for dawn. She quickly dismissed the idea, however. Knuckles had shown her she did not need to let these nightmares ruin her life, and she intended to follow his example. Discarding her nightgown, Sally strapped on her old blue vest and put on her walking boots, silently leaving her room and heading outside. After sneaking out of the palace, Sally began to get a feel of just how late it _really _was. All the lights in Knothole seemed to be out. Darkness and silence ruled, with even the stars and the moon absent from their usual place in the sky. Walking through the silent streets, Sally, rather than be frightened, felt oddly…relieved. Just being awake, active, was helping her feel more in-control again. She knew just where to go to help calm her nerves as well. It did not take long before she had reached her destination. It was an open meadow, devoid of any of the buildings or skyscrapers of the main city, with a beautiful lake splashing silently and soothingly at its center. "The ring pool…" she sighed happily.

It was a place that held many memories for the princess. Once, a powerful generator had rested at its bottom, generating power rings every few hours. The generator had since been removed, but the lake and its name remained. She had always been able to calm herself in the lake's presence, and tonight was no different. Taking off her boots, she walked down to the lake and sat at its edge, dipping her feet in it and staring up to the empty sky. She was not getting back to sleep, but rather than simply sit in bed quivering, tonight she would take the time to contemplate. "_The only way to get over your problems is to confront them!" _Knuckles had said boldly during their lunch at the Hoof earlier that day.

Knowing Knuckles, his actual meaning was most likely more…violent…but thinking through her problems was something Sally knew she was good at, and it was something she had not received time to do in a good long while. "_So…let's run a checklist, shall we?"_ she mentally asked herself.

"_Item number 1: Nightmares. Don't know what they're about, they scare me out of my mind and they might be linked to some sort of dangerous mythological entity. However, as of yet, all they've done is deprive me of sleep. Solution: come to ring pool to calm self, think through problems, and go back to sleep. Item number 1, check."_ She thought, making a small swooping gesture with her hand.

"_Item number 2: Sonic."_ She continued.

Here, her thoughts became more troubled. His two-day absence had taken away her chance of talking to him again, of attempting to reconcile their current conflict. He had wedged himself firmly in her mind ever since, and she had to wonder if there was any way to get him out. Was he safe? What did Lilith have to do with his aggressive behavior? Was he…was he thinking of her, too? "_Maybe _that's _the problem…"_ she thought. "_Maybe…maybe I'm scared he's forgotten me…forgotten _us…_so quickly."_

Could that have been it? Was she afraid he did not love her anymore? Was she afraid _she _didn't love _him _anymore? "_Well, I know _that _isn't it…"_ she thought. "…_because I _know _I still love him…"_

That was important. She DID still love him. That meant that she had to believe in him. After all, it was Sonic who had taught her that loving someone meant having faith in them. "_I have faith in Sonic..."_ she realized. "_Even after that night…even after his anger…I still have _faith _in him…"_

Smiling, she looked down from the sky to the lake. "_Item number 2: Check."_ She laughed mentally.

That mental laughter quickly faded as her ears flicked gently in detection of a sound. She was no longer alone. Plucking her feet out of the water, she stood up quickly, years of guerilla missions in Robotropolis having conditioned her to expect the worst. Looking through the meadow, she put her boots back on and assumed a small fighting stance, mentally cursing herself for leaving Nichole back at the palace. Her eyes soon became fixed on a shadowy figure walking towards her, a familiar figure she quickly realized, even in the darkness.

"Sonic…?" she whispered, almost unable to believe it.

"Princess Sally." He answered, though the flat tone of his voice unnerved the princess. "It is time to honor the bloodpact." He hissed.

_"That which is written in blood cannot be forgotten…"_ Sally remembered the voice in her dream saying.

"No…" she cried in despair, realizing something terrible was happening and that, somehow, Sonic had become its pawn.

Before she had a chance to act, however, Sonic had already sped towards her. In the blink of an eye, he had gotten behind the squirrel. "Yes." He growled, swinging his fist into the back of Sally's head and knocking her unconscious.

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Echoes

1Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's note: I apologize for the severe lateness of this chapter; real life and a nasty case of writer's block conspired together to delay it much more than I would've liked. Still, it's here now, so enjoy…

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Gamecube (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Three: Echoes

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

There was a stinging pain in the back of Sally's head as she awoke, consciousness returning to her slowly. It was the first thing she realized as her mind slowly regained consciousness. Slowly, however, other sensations entered her perception. The air…it was thick and hot around her. Groggily, Sally sat up and began to open her eyes. Blinking a few times to clear her vision, she saw she was in a small room. There were no windows or doors. In fact, there was nothing around her save for the smooth steel that created the floor, walls, and roof. "Where am I…?" she mumbled, instinctively placing her hand on the back of her head. "_I remember…"_, she thought, "…_the Lake_ _of Rings_…_and then Sonic…did he knock me out…?"_

The thought of Sonic jolted her fully awake. Everything came rushing back to her, pushing her to her feet. "_I've got to get out, find out what's going on…" _she reminded herself. Wasting no more time, she began tracing the walls with her hands, searching for any sign of a switch or hidden door or a weak spot. Unfortunately, all she felt was smooth steel. "OK…don't panic…", she said aloud in an attempt to ease her nerves. "You got IN here…somehow…which means you can get OUT too…"

"**Ah, they're so cute when they're trying to escape."** A familiar purr echoed throughout the room, seemingly from nowhere.

"Lilith…" Sally growled, not surprised in the slightest the bat was involved in this.

She looked around quickly to find where the temptress was hiding, but saw no sign of her. Stepping into the center of the room to get a better view, she continued her search only to have her eye caught by...something…in the wall to her left. It was like a ripple in water, bubbling and expanding to the edge and then fading. A small beam of light flew out of its center, causing Sally to step backwards to avoid it hitting her as it went from one side of the room to the other. As it reached the opposite wall, the light expanded in size, increasing in brightness. Forced to shield her eyes, Sally was unable to see the creature that emerged through the light. However, as the light vanished and Sally could see again, she was soon greeted with Lilith's familiar form. Wearing a grin of smug triumph, the bat eyed Sally predatorily. Her face soon softened, though Sally could still sense a deep-seated malice in Lilith's gaze. "Awake at last, I see…" she said, obviously enjoying the situation.

Sally did not respond, instead glaring at her enemy solemnly. "Aww, no 'Nice to see you again, Lilith?'" the winged temptress laughed. "How about a 'So, how's Sonic doing?'"

The princess still did not speak, though Lilith could see the smallest of twitches in the squirrel's ears. She snorted in mild disappointment. "Aww…I was hoping you'd get all riled up…oh, well."

Flexing her wings outward, she continued, "Anyway, Amodeus needs to see you now that you're awake, so you'll need to come with me."

Lilith grabbed the squirrel by the wrist, and for a moment Sally was tempted to take her down right then. However, she knew fighting Lilith here would do no good; she would still be trapped and in need of answers. "_I'll let her take me to this…Amodeus…"_ she thought. "_Then with any luck I'll find out what's going on…"_

Unaware of Sally's mental planning, Lilith dragged her by the arm to the wall she had entered from. Placing her free hand upwards, she chanted in a low, guttural voice, "Enpo Os We Aym Ssap!"

Just as before, the wall began to ripple and shift. "Right this way…" Lilith chuckled, walking through the waves with Sally in tow.

It felt like walking through water, as if the wall around her was liquefying and shifting around her form exactly. As quickly as it had come, the feeling left, and Sally found they were in a new location. At first, she thought it was the Master Emerald chamber, but the skeletal throne in front of her showed her otherwise. Looking behind her, she was surprised to see that there was no sign of the room she had just been in, only a looming gate. "Here she is." Lilith said, yanking Sally's arm roughly and pushing her forward. Stumbling toward the throne, Sally heard a raspy voice greet her. "Greetings, Child of the Source. I am Amodeus…"

"Child of the Source…?" Sally asked, looking up to the throne to see the old goat she could only assume was Amodeus. She was struck by how his face, despite his left eye being scarred shut, seemed to glow with a cold, fearful presence. Swallowing the feeling of dread that welled up inside her, she decided now was as a good a time as any to try and get her answers. Straightening up, she continued with more force in her voice, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

"We brought you here," Amodeus answered, spreading his arms open in a welcoming gesture, "because we need you. I know you are…confused right now, but I promise you will have your answers."

Sally's fur visibly bristled in frustration. She prepared to voice that feeling when she heard a voice, one instantly recognizable to her ears. "Getting ready for the ritual already?"

Almost instinctively, she tracked the voice to its source. Directly behind her stood a creature she would have identified as Sonic the Hedgehog, had it not been for the glaring differences between them. For one thing, the creature's fur was a far darker shade of blue than Sonic's, its eyes blood red compared to his light green, and its quills far more jagged and unkempt than his. The most jarring difference, however, was his expression. A sinister, threatening grin plastered on his face, his brows deeply furrowed, he looked like he could snap completely at any second. However, for all that the body did not match, the voice was unmistakable. Somehow or other, THIS was Sonic. The fear Sally had felt the night before, that something had happened to him, returned, only this time she was sure of its truth: something was controlling him, twisting him into something…darker. She stared at him for a moment, taking in the changes his body had undergone. Noticing her attention, Sonic smiled slightly. "Your majesty…" he greeted with a chuckle.

After an exaggerated bow, he brushed past Sally and strutted arrogantly towards the throne. "I thought for sure you'd wait a little longer…" Sonic continued. "You do everything _else _so slow around here!"

Lilith stifled a laugh, and to her own surprise, Sally felt a slight laugh inside her as well; she had to admit, it was amusing to see that, whatever else had happened, Sonic's transformation had not erased _everything _about him. For his part, Amodeus simply growled indignantly. Rather than respond to the hedgehog's insult, he instead turned his attention to Sally. Stroking his beard thoughtfully, the aged shaman hummed lowly for a moment, deep in thought. "Now", he hummed lowly, "where were we?"

Snapping his fingers, he nodded his head in realization. "Ah, yes; you want answers!"

The only response Sally gave was a folding of her arms. His theatrics were not amusing her in the slightest. "It is easy enough to answer _where_ you are," Amodeus said, continuing with a long, sweeping wave of his arm that allowed his staff to circle the room, "This is an ancient temple, built long ago by The Order of Daxis, and designed to be accessible only to those within the Order. Thus it has remained hidden from the world, even after the thousands of years since its construction."

Returning the staff to its resting place by his side, Amodeus continued. "The question of what we _want_ with you, however, is a bit more difficult."

"Try me. I've got time…" Sally retorted sarcastically, still maintaining her disinterested pose.

"I assume, as a member of the Royal Family, you know of the Ancient Walkers, the Goddess Aurora, and the Source of All?" Amodeus asked, to which Sally nodded curtly.

"Excellent…that's _one _part of the story I can skip, at least…" the goat laughed hoarsely. His laughter quickly died and he resumed speaking. "When this planet was reforged after the Days of Fury, there came to be a hierarchy of spirits watching over this world…The Goddess Aurora and the Four Ancient Walkers…"

Ears perked upwards, Sally hastily interrupted. "Four? There are only _three _Walkers…"

A sinister grin crept along the sides of Amodeus' face. He had her _full _attention now. "I suspect, my dear, that whatever legends or history your people know of the Walkers has been whitewashed of his glory, but in truth there was indeed a fourth Walker. His name…was Daxis."

"Daxis?" Sally repeated.

Amodeus nodded. "He was the most powerful of the Ancient Walkers who watched over this world in its infancy." He said. His voice reflected a deep feeling of loyalty.

"However…" he continued, visibly tense, "he was also the only one with the insight to realize the terrible danger the young Mobius was in. He knew it from the moment new life set foot on the planet."

Sonic yawned loudly and stretched. "Hey, hurry up 'n' get to the good stuff, will ya?" he asked incredulously.

Ignoring the comment, save a vicious glare he shot at the hedgehog, the shaman continued. "Daxis recognized the threat that sentient life-forms posed to Mobius, and that, without a proper leader, they would eventually grow out of control and, in their ignorance, destroy the planet. Rather than allow that to happen, the great Daxis prepared to take action…"

"By conquering the peoples of Mobius." Sally interrupted harshly.

A moment of silence hung over the room; none of the three watching her had expected Sally to speak up. "So your 'Daxis' is the same as Robotnik, Naugus, and every other tyrant who thinks their power makes them a leader, then?" she growled.

"I realize," Amodeus soothingly spoke, "how it must sound to one who has endured as many hardships as you have, Child of the Source." Even as Sally mentally winced at being referred to by that cumbersome title again, he went on, "However, I assure you, Daxis' aims for Mobius and its people were pure; why, if he had succeeded, it is safe to assume people like Robotnik would never have come into power."

"I'm betting Aurora and the other Walkers didn't see it that way," Sally said, a knowing smile on her face, "or we probably wouldn't be talking about all this right now, would we?"

The soothing tone gone, Amodeus responded angrily, "Aurora and the Walkers were arrogant…they willingly ignored the threat to Mobius because they refused to believe the creatures they watched over were anything less than perfect."

The princess had to keep herself from grinning even wider; she had struck a nerve, and with it, a plan on how to escape. "Do tell," she said, intentionally projecting a sense of disrespect in her voice.

"When Daxis attempted to descend upon Mobius and unite its peoples, Aurora and the Walkers…interfered…" Amodeus growled, anger clearly rising. "They fought him, and when they found themselves overpowered by the great Daxis, they combined their strengths and banished him!"

"Where to?" Sally asked lazily, taking a relaxed sit in front of the pedestal Lilith and Sonic now stood on; she saw in the corner of her eye the dark-blue hedgehog eyeing her suspiciously.

"The World Between Life and Death." Amodeus intoned grimly. "Daxis could not be killed, yet to Aurora and the Walkers he was too dangerous to be kept alive, and so they sentenced him to an eternity of neither life nor death…only nothingness…"

For a moment, Sally felt a familiar chill run through her spine at that last word. It was only a moment, however, and she brushed the feeling away quickly; if her plan was going to work, she had to stay focused. "It sounds to me like this big, bad 'Daxis' got exactly what was coming to him." She said with a loud laugh at the end.

Lilith bristled slightly; the princess' lax attitude was starting to annoy her. However, she knew Amodeus despised others interfering in his 'business'; the old goat was too proud to ever ask for help, and whenever she had tried acting without his permission in the past, she had been punished severely. Thus the silver bat bit her tongue, instead hoping Amodeus would take care of that spoiled little squirrel by himself. "What, exactly, do you mean by _that_?" Amodeus hissed.

"You say he was trying to solve this world's problems…it sounds to me like all he was going to do was make them worse," Sally practically yawned.

She briefly glanced up at Sonic. "_If we ever get out of this,"_ she mentally whispered to him, "_remind me to thank you for teaching me how to rile people up so well…"_

Looking back at Amodeus, she found that the shaman had risen from his throne, clutching his staff tightly. "Do _not _speak so disrespectfully of the great Daxis in these halls! He was the only being in the universe who could've controlled the evil that plagued this world!" he shouted, an obvious stretch of his aged vocal chords.

"Right, right, all those terrible Mobians, how _could _I forget?" she sarcastically spat. "We've been around for a long time, and ya know what? Mobius is still here. Sounds to me like Daxis was just wasting his time…"

"I think you've said enough, princess…" Sonic warned, not burdened with the same hesitance as Lilith.

Though he could not put his finger on how, the hedgehog could tell Sally was attempting to trick Amodeus, to what end he was unsure. That, however, became obvious to him when Amodeus' outraged cry echoed across the diamond walls. "You DARE doubt the mission of Daxis? I will _show _you the evil he hoped to contain!!!"

Whirling to the goat, Sonic shouted, "WAIT…!!!"

It was too late. With a loud CRACK, Amodeus' staff clashed to the floor, and the entire room was engulfed in light.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sally knew her plan had been a gamble, that provoking Amodeus might not have gotten her the results she desired. All she knew was that he was one of the only people who could get her out of that temple, and he was only going to do _that _if she gave him a reason to. She had heard the reverence in his voice when he had talked about this so-called Fourth Walker, and had gone from there. As the light cleared and her vision returned, she knew the risk had been worth it: rather than the crystalline temple where she had been only moments before, she now stood upon a large, barren field. Although the area around her did not look familiar, it did not matter, since now that she knew what she was dealing with and was out of the temple, she could escape. All that was left was to wait for the opening. "You don't know where we are, do you, Child?" the voice of Amodeus came from behind her and broke her train of thought.

Now more focused on her surroundings, Sally took a look around and noted that her position in relation to the others had changed from when they were inside the temple; Sonic and Lilith stood at Amodeus' side, and all three of them were behind her now. She turned around to face her captors with a restrained "No."

Amodeus opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to the punch by Sonic, who slapped the goat hard behind the head. "IDIOT!!! Don't tell me you were honestly dumb enough to fall for her little trick!" he barked angrily.

"Do something like that again," Amodeus warned emotionlessly, pointing the head of his staff towards Sonic menacingly, "and I will make you suffer for it…"

Seeing her chance in the argument between Sonic and Amodeus as her chance, Sally turned and ran without hesitation. She knew Sonic and Lilith could outrun her, but she was prepared to defend herself if either of them attacked her, even if they did together. As she ran into the distance, Sonic was already preparing to take off after her. Already revving up, he turned to Amodeus and chuckled, "See?"

To the hedgehog's surprise, Amodeus simply grinned. "Let her go." He calmly spoke.

"What?" Sonic yelped, his rev turning into a lurch and a fall to the ground.

"She has nowhere to go…" the goat replied. "Let her see the evil Daxis could have prevented from coming into existence."

In confusion, Sonic turned to Lilith with questions in his eyes. Lilith simply shrugged. Though she shared Sonic's skepticism, Amodeus' confidence suggested to her that the goat knew what he was doing. Still not brave enough to voice her concerns, the bat simply hoped that would be comfort enough.

Sally, for her part, had unvoiced concerns of her own, even as she continued running at a steady pace. "_Why haven't they _done _anything yet?"_ she wondered nervously.

Already she had conceived that they might have been planning some sort of trap for her, that by running she was doing exactly what they wanted. However, she knew that running was her only chance, trap or not. "_Whatever they're planning,"_ she thought, "_I'll deal with it when the time comes."_

So she continued her run. After a good while, Sonic, Amodeus, and Lilith had all fallen out of view. Still nothing. Sally refused to let her guard down completely, but after a while she began to relax, at least slightly. With a little more time, she even slowed herself down to catch her breath. For all the ground she was sure she had covered, it frustrated the princess to see no change in her surroundings. She was still walking on the same lifeless gray dirt with no end in sight. No trees, no other Mobians…not even animals or rocks. Just endless dead land. "_I've never seen a place so…so…empty…"_ she thought to herself with a shudder. "_Even Robotropolis has its machines and buildings…this place has _nothing…"

A chilling thought crossed her mind: what if _this _was Amodeus' trap, to leave her lost to die in an endless sea of gray? "_No, no…it sounded like he wanted me alive, and besides he had a good chance to kill me when I was unconscious…"_ she reasoned.

No longer even trotting, she now simply plodded through the bland terrain, wondering what could possibly have rendered any corner of the planet so devoid of even the slightest spark of vitality.

Indeed, she was beginning to feel her own vitality fade. Her breathing became heavier, and her whole body began to feel like lead. She found herself suddenly unable to continue, or even to stand any longer, falling on her knees. "What…what's happening…?" she wondered aloud, before slumping onto the ground face first, exhaustion beginning to claw at her mind. "_Stay awake…"_ she ordered herself. "_STAY AWAKE!!!"_

Yet the force of her command went unfelt, and soon enough her eyes had closed. Just before she succumbed to sleep, she could have sworn she could hear voices…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Within the shaded confines of the Council Meeting Room, Geoffrey St. John paced nervously from one side of the table to the other. "Geoffrey," Hershey cautioned from her seat, "walking until there's a ditch in the floor won't make the search party come back any faster."

"I know, luv," Geoffrey sighed, though he continued his pacing, "but it sure helps to keep my nerves down."

"Yours, maybe, but it's giving _mine _goosebumps…" Rotor groaned.

The Council was seated at the meeting table, awaiting news from the Search Party deployed not long ago when it had been learned Princess Sally was missing. The party had been sent on the unenviable mission to search the entirety of the Great Forest for any sign of the Princess or else some clue as to what had happened to her. "We must conseedair," Antoine spoke up, "ze possibilitee zat she left of her own choice."

The rest of the council did not answer at first. Eventually, however, Uncle Chuck broke the silence. "Why would the Princess just…_leave_…without even telling us?"

The coyote turned his gaze to the elderly hedgehog and answered, "Eet ees deestinktly possible ze stress of the ze last few days…"

Five burning glares became fixated on Antoine, and though he showed no sign of intimidation, the young soldier nonetheless silenced himself. The others did not want to believe Sally could turn her back on her duties and run. They had all known her too long to think that even possible. "It could be Robotnik…" Dr. Quack piped up. "He _has _been awfully dormant lately…he could've just been biding his time…"

"He might've learned Sonic was missing, thought it was a good time to strike…" Hershey added.

Geoffrey, however, shook his head. "Not his style, luv. Robotnik's an egotist; if he kidnapped Sally, he'd _want _us to know he did it."

Another theory shot down, conversation in the room halted. Everyone had said their piece, and now all that they had left to do was stare at the two-way radio on the table, waiting for contact from the Search Party. Fortunately for the sanity of all involved, they did not have to wait long. Crackling through the radio's speakers came the voice of Bunnie Rabbot. "This is Bunnie callin' in, d'y'all read?"

At last coming to a halt, Geoffrey answered quickly, "We read you, Bunnie. What've you got for us?"

"Well, mah team wasn't makin' any progress in the Great Forest, so I decided ta break off and check the homefront, see if there wasn't somethin' there."

"And?" Rotor prompted nervously.

"_Somethin_' happened heah last night, that much is sure. Dunno if it was Sally getting' kidnapped or just a nasty case of rough-housin', but the field at the Lake of Rings is torn up pretty bad." Came the crackling response.

Curious, Geoffrey finally took his seat and asked, "How so?"

"Whole swaths of the field've been upturned," Bunnie replied, "and Ah hate to say it, but this looks an awful lot like what happens when…"

She cut herself off with a sigh, then resumed. "…when Sonic comes runnin' through…"

Immediately, Uncle Chuck spoke out. "Sonic? You mean he came home and we didn't know?"

"Zee Preencess 'as been known to go to ze Lake of Reengs when she ees nervous," Antoine pointed out, and though he was once again met by disapproving glares, he did not stop this time. "Zee implication ees clear: ze 'edge'og returned, and ees at ze very least eenvolved in her deesappeerance."

Resting his chin on his folded hands, Geoffrey sighed. Assessing the situation as best he could, the skunk soon formed a plan, and spelled it out to his fellow council members, as well as Bunnie. "We need to take care of this situation quickly," he began sternly. "Sooner or later news of the Princess' disappearance is going to make it to the populace, and given all the pressure Knothole's been under, that kind of news could cause a disaster."

Lifting his head up and placing his hands on the table, he continued, "Therefore, we are going to inform the people that Sally is missing, that we are doing everything we can to find her, and that until she is returned safely the Royal Council shall assume full authority over Knothole; better they hear it from us than some unscrupulous rumor."

"Seems simple enough," Rotor agreed, "but how are we going to find Sally?"

"The Search Party will continue looking throughout the Great Forest; if need be, we'll send a smaller party to investigate Robotropolis." Geoffrey replied. "In the meantime, we need to follow the leads we've got, and that gives us only one."

Uncle Chuck gave a resigned sigh. "Sonic…"

"I'm sorry, Sir Charles," Geoffrey said, trying his best to extend his genuine sympathy while maintaining his commanding composure, "but he's all we have to go on at the moment. We can't afford to leave that one stone unturned."

The elderly hedgehog furrowed his brow in frustration and opened his mouth to protest angrily. Ultimately, however, he fell silent. "Rotor," Geoffrey turned to the walrus, "can you track him?"

Rotor thought the question over for a moment, than nodded. "There is an old device of mine I built to track a special aura Sonic possesses created by the gradual accumulation of Power Ring energy in his body," he said, "but I haven't used it in years…"

"Dig it up and get it working." Geoffrey ordered. "The sooner we find him, the better."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

She was…standing? Wasn't she lying down against her will before? All sense of sleep had left her, and she now found herself dropped again into a new surrounding. The air tasted like poison, yet Sally did not choke on it. The smell of death hung in the air, and though she felt frightened beyond belief, the Princess also felt as if she was exactly where she belonged, even though she had no idea where she was at all. The endless gray fields she had fallen upon only moments before were gone, or else obscured by the thick green fog that now surrounded Sally on every side. She could not see anything past the fog, and so it was with great trepidation that she took her first steps. Her footfalls echoed much louder than she would have thought possible, so much so that she quickly stopped walking just to silence the noise. For a while, she simply stood. No moving, no sound…nothing. She was alone. She was, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, alone with her thoughts. So she thought. She thought of Sonic. She thought of how, just as she had finally managed to find the courage to tell him how she felt for him, how she _had _felt for as long as she could remember, he had been torn away from her. She thought about how, after a year spent simultaneously trying to fight a war and mourn a lover, she had finally gotten him back, only to lose him again that very same day to her own impatience. She thought about how, sooner or later, she was now going to have to face him as an enemy, a situation she could never get used to no matter how many times it happened. She thought about how all she wanted right then was to be home with him, and Tails, and her parents, and not have to worry for once about being a Princess or a Child of the Source or anything else but herself. She thought about screaming. So she did. Very, very loudly.

Her voice held for some time before at last she exhausted herself and became silent again. The scream echoed across the fog, and Sally had to admit, it was a frightening thing to hear-all of her rage, frustration, sadness…bottled up and let loose. Just as it faded, however, the echo was replaced by a chorus of moaning voices, the same ones Sally had heard when she had fallen asleep. All speaking on top of each other in the same agonized strain, it was difficult for their individual words to reach Sally. Listening to them hurt her ears, yet she still struggled to make out what was being said. As she did, the fog around her began to whirl and take shape. The voices became clearer. "You…belong here…"

Hands slowly shaped in the fog, reaching for Sally yet coming up just short of her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"We…wait…" came the moaning answer, a thousand voices now speaking as one. "We wait for you…to join us…to be where you belong…"

A terrible ache began to emanate from Sally's chest. She placed her hand over its source…over her heart. "You…you're dead, aren't you?" She realized, speaking through clenched teeth as her pain worsened.

"Yes…"

"Then…you think that I…I'm supposed to be dead, too?" she managed to growl out.

"You fell…you should not have lived…" the voices rasped.

"What happened to you? How did you…how did you come to be…like this…?" She was finding it difficult to breath now, and she could feel herself growing colder with each passing moment, the pain becoming even greater with each heartbeat.

"We have always been…like this…"

The hands were now joined by ghostly bodies emerging from the fog, bodies of all sorts: Mobians, Overlanders, male, female…but they all possessed the same eyes: white, empty eyes that looked at Sally unblinkingly.

"_What _is _this place…?"_ Sally thought as she began to be overwhelmed by the pain in her chest. Her knees were buckling now, yet she refused to give in. "I don't know…who you are…what you want…" she started.

"We want you…come join us…" the voices interrupted.

"…but I have…too much left…to give up now!" she finished with as much power as she could muster in her voice.

Suddenly, a light from above shot through the fog, landing directly on the young princess. The fog began to disperse, the voices faded away, and Sally looked up to the source of the strange light that now surrounded her. A hand…a familiar white glove…reached down to her. As if from miles away, she heard a voice…_his _voice…speak to her with words she could swear she had heard before. "_Come back, Sal…I love you…"_

"Sonic…" she whispered, and placed her hand in his. She felt the pain in her chest ease, and her feet slowly left the ground. She began floating closer and closer to the light…

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

With a sharp jerk, Sally was lifted by her arm off the ground. It took her a moment to realize she was back in the wasteland, face to face with the burning red eyes of Sonic. "Glad to see you could join us, Princess…" he chuckled. "You have a nice nap?"

Without thinking, Sally snapped her arm out of his grip, stumbling backwards a bit as she felt a slight rush to her head. "Amodeus finally decided to come after me, I see…" she spat as she recomposed herself.

"Naw, the old goat told me to stick it out with him 'n' Lilith…but I'm not a big fan of following orders." The hedgehog responded, watching Sally with great amusement.

"I can testify to that…" Sally muttered to herself, then quickly spoke up, "What just happened to me? What…what were those things?"

"The old goat calls 'em 'echoes'…imprints of a spirit left behind when someone dies." He answered.

"_More new information…"_ Sally thought. She had been told as a child that, at death, the spirit of a living being dispersed across the ether from which it came, or else ascended to the Realm of Aurora and the Walkers. No one had ever told her of these "echoes" before.

Sonic had slowly begun circling her, and his predatory motion had not gone unnoticed. Still he continued to speak, eyeing her carefully, "Usually, echoes fade away within seconds of their creation, but sometimes if enough of them are created at once in a concentrated area, they merge together and become substantial enough to last…"

Rather than simply stand idly by as the hedgehog spoke to her, Sally assumed a fighting stance, signaling to Sonic that, if he wished to battle her, she was ready. An amused grin came upon him, and he again spoke to her, though this time his tone was darkened. "You still don't understand, do you? This," and with that word he swept his hand around him, bringing the desolation that surrounded them back to Sally's attention, "is your doing. You and your kind brought these Deadlands into existence."

His words carried an edge of disgust in them that cut Sally deeply. Still she did not let this show. She refused to forget the situation she was in, the stakes of her choices, no matter how hard circumstance tried to distract her. "During the Great War, this was a forest, full of life..." Sonic resumed.

"One day, though, it became a battlefield for the Mobians and the Overlanders, and a critical one at that. The Overlanders were carrying an experimental new weapon, you see, one that could win the war for them, and if it was successfully brought to the capital city of Mobotropolis, your kind would be finished."

Unlike almost every other tale told to her that day, this story sounded vaguely familiar to Sally. She had not been afforded many opportunities to learn at length about the history of the Great War that had acted in many ways as a precursor to Robotnik's destructive coup, but she still had sufficient knowledge of it, and the history Sonic now relayed to her seemed to ring a bell.

That was when it dawned on her, and a chilling realization brought a name to her lips. "The Battle of Northwood…" she whispered, as if afraid to speak the name too loudly.

"So...are you finally starting to get the picture?" The hedgehog had stopped moving, though he looked at the barren ground rather than Sally's eyes as he asked her.

_The Battle_ _of Northwood: a conflict that occurred toward the end of the Great War. Initiated when it was learned that an Overlander troop was attempting to transport an extremely dangerous new weapon to be used in a siege of Mobotropolis by traveling through the unprotected Northwood_ _Forest_ _area. A Mobian Counterforce was sent to stop the weapon from being brought to Mobotropolis, and managed to engage the Overlander force in Northwood. The battle ended in tragedy when the weapon was accidentally set off during the fighting, destroying the entirety of Northwood as well as several surrounding villages, killing thousands. _

A single entry in a textbook flashed through her mind, a snapshot from when she had been forced into a strange kind of house arrest by her father and left with little else to do but read through every book she could find. At the time, it had struck her as a tragedy, but nothing of immediate concern. Now, however, she stood upon the very spot. She stood upon the grave of thousands. It was a knowledge that again brought a faint trace of the pain she had felt while in the grip of the Echoes, a feeling even more unpleasant in the waking world. Sonic's voice, now the sharpest and harshest she could recall hearing it, spoke once more. "The freedom you fought for so hard…it leads here. Every time." Still he did not look at her, but she could see in his slowly shifting stance that he was preparing to attack.

"So instead, we let ourselves be slaves to this 'Daxis'?" Sally asked contemptuously, her entire body tightened with the strength of feeling that flowed through her. "How can you say that, Sonic? After everything we've been through?"

The shock in the hedgehog's eyes at the mention of his name indicated that Sally had taken her enemy by surprise, a change she could not resist feeling some gladness for. "How do you know my name?" Sonic asked cautiously, his attention now fully on the Princess.

She was unsure how to answer him, though she was not surprised to learn he did not remember her. She still did not know just what Lilith and Amodeus had done to him, but it was not beyond conception, given the strange powers they had already demonstrated, that they had somehow taken away Sonic's memories. "ANSWER ME!!!" Sonic barked after a few seconds.

Sally's instinct was to tell the truth, to try and remind him of his true self, his past. Yet something held her back. Though she knew more now than when this nightmare had started, the young princess still did not know the full extent of the power she was dealing with. "_Could confronting him with his past put him in danger?"_ a fearful voice nagged at the back of her thoughts.

It was this fear that held her tongue. Instead, Sally could only bring herself to look Sonic in the eye. Her silence angered the hedgehog. "No answer, huh? Well, maybe I can change your mind..."

His sentence dissolved into more condescending laughter. With a deep sigh, the hedgehog forced himself to stop. "Oh well," he chortled, "joke's over. Time to have some _real _fun…"

Without so much as a second between his words and his actions, Sonic took off from where he stood and charged directly at Sally, a fist outstretched, and the princess was forced in an instant to push all else out of her thoughts. Despite the hedgehog's speed, Sally was not unprepared for his attack. Swiftly she moved to the side of his strike, grabbing the hedgehog's outstretched arm and swinging him around in one liquid-like motion. He was soon released, tumbling through the air and onto the gray dirt of the ground. In the blink of an eye, however, he was back on his feet. Now, however, his grin was that of an animal ready to close in on its prey, his eyes projecting a hideous feeling of exhilaration. He turned to her with a lick of his lips, and growled out, "I _knew _it was a good idea to track you down…this will be the perfect game…"

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Rituals

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's Note: Just thought I'd take a sec to thank everyone who's reviewed so far. Seeing what you think of my story does a lot to help motivate me to write, so I really appreciate it. Also, I think I've reached a point in the story where I have a firmer grasp on the direction it's going in, so with luck you can expect updates from me more frequently.

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Four: Rituals

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

With a wicked smile and a terrifying glare, Sonic resumed his attack. This time, however, he got in as close as he could to Sally, and launched a dizzying array of blows. Despite her best attempts to block the assault, the princess found herself overwhelmed. Her stomach, her legs, her arms, her face…each one was battered over and over again in such rapid succession that she could barely keep track of which one was being attacked at what time. Finally, the hedgehog delivered a final blow to the center of her chest, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. The dust kicked up from her fall floated in the air, and silence followed it. For a moment, the hedgehog waited for Sally to move. She remained still. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Sonic approached her cautiously, low to the ground. "Don't die _yet_..." he growled. "I'm having too much fun…"

He hovered over her limp form, eyeing her with equal measures of bloodlust and uncertainty. Closer and closer he moved towards her, looking at her open mouth and closed eyes. "Did you _really _go down that easy…?" he asked softly, a strange feeling in his gut as the distance between their faces closed.

Suddenly her eyes shot open, and her legs flew upwards, closing in on the hedgehog's body like scissors. With her enemy trapped, Sally swung Sonic over her, slamming his face into the ground. Releasing him from her vice, she lifted herself upwards on her hands, only to slam her legs back down onto Sonic's back. She then rolled herself forward into a stand, looking back at the hedgehog as he rose to his feet and waited for him to retaliate, arms raised in readiness. Though she knew he would attack again, Sally wished he would not. Every inch of her body ached from his punishing barrage, and she did not know how much longer she could go. The fact that her opponent was someone who stirred deep emotions in her did little to help. "Please, Sonic…" she panted, "Don't do this!"

"**Stop calling me that!"** he shouted in frustration, charging her again. This time, however, Sally anticipated his strike and moved in before he could begin attacking her. Acting as swiftly as she could, she grabbed Sonic's hands by the wrist and held on tight. It did her little good, however, for as soon as he saw his fists were unusable, Sonic simply slammed his head down on Sally's as hard as he could. As hard as their heads collided, however, the princess would not let go. "_I'm escaping these lunatics, and I swear even if I have to beat you senseless to do it I'm taking you with me!" _her mind shrieked as her body weakened.

Sonic prepared to head-butt the young squirrel even harder, but Sally was ready and launched her knee into his stomach. Even as he lurched from the blow, Sonic still prepared to attack once more, and so the princess kneed him again. Over and over her knee collided with his stomach, yet still he would not yield. Rather than show his pain, though, Sonic merely laughed. "You're good…I knew you'd be fun…"

Despite his jovial attitude, Sally could see that he too was tiring and so, no matter how badly her body screamed at her to collapse, she refused. "_If I can hold on just a little longer…"_ she thought, "_I can get _both _of us out of here…"_

The wind whipped around the two combatants as they faced off with each other as if watching their battle in excitement. Neither one conceded an inch to their foe, both ceasing their attacks temporarily as they watched and tried to anticipate the other's movements. Struggling against Sally's hold, Sonic thrashed his arms about to no avail. "You really do have some fight in you, Princess…" Sonic laughed excitedly, "It's a shame I'm gonna have to beat it out of you!"

Without warning he suddenly opened his arms up wide, thus forcing Sally's arms to go with his, and swung his legs upward through the newly created gap. With a hard kick, he pressed his feet down on Sally's chest and began pushing against her. Sally found her arms stretched near to breaking off as the hedgehog pressed down on her harder and harder. Slowly but surely, she could feel her hands loosening their grip. "No…" she grunted as, one by one, her fingers fell from his wrists. "NO!!!"

Her pained outburst echoed throughout the gray and murky sky as Sonic at last broke free, flipping off her chest and landing several feet away from Sally, who despite her best efforts lost her balance and collapsed to the ground. Even as the squirrel desperately tried to get back up as quickly as possible, Sonic kneeled to the ground and placed his hands in front of him. "Time to finish this…" he said menacingly.

That was when he flipped himself into a roll with such speed that he soon became like a buzz-saw, spinning over and over again. His quills acting now as razor edges, he cut through the dirt ground like a knife, heading straight toward Sally, who still lay on her back struggling to overcome the pain rippling through her every limb. Seeing the deadly attack coming her way, she abandoned standing for the moment and instead tried to roll out of the way. Though she succeeded, the spinning hedgehog simply turned around to try again. Finally getting back on her feet, Sally's mind raced to figure out a way to counter the deadly Sonic Spin, only to find herself out of time as Sonic came at her again. Just as she prepared to dodge him again, however, a voice erupted, seemingly coming from all sides: "**ENOUGH!!!" **

The ground shook as the voice spoke, and Sonic came to a stop less than an inch from Sally, his face now planted in the dirt. From behind him, a shadow crept along the ground like a serpent and slithered next to the fallen hedgehog. The form of Amodeus emerged from its dark shape, with a rather embarrassed-looking Lilith in tow. "Hey Blue…" she muttered sheepishly.

"Hey Riruff…" came the muffled reply from the face-planted Sonic.

At last able to stand still for a moment, Sally came to realize just how badly she had been hurt. Her legs felt ready to break in two, her arms as if they had all but fallen off her shoulders. Escape had eluded her again. She simply could not fight her enemies in her worn condition, nor was attempting to run again going to do any good. "Get up…" Amodeus ordered dismissively of Sonic, though his gaze was on Sally rather than the hedgehog.

Sonic obeyed the command, but no sooner had he stood on his feet then he began to charge again at Sally. He only managed to get one step closer, however, for Amodeus swiftly blocked the angered fighter's path with his staff. "Your fight is over, boy…" he warned sternly.

Though Sonic grunted in frustration and cursed under his breath, he made no further attempts to attack. "Looks like you got your ass kicked, Blue…" Lilith whispered with a suppressed chuckle.

"Har dee har har…" he grumbled.

If Amodeus heard their light-hearted chatter, he did not show it. Instead, he approached Sally as casually as if they had known each other for years. "As for you, Child of the Source…" he addressed her courteously, "I hope your journey into the Deadlands was…educational…"

Sally did not miss the implication of what she had been told. "You mean those…'Echoes'…don't you?" she shuddered at the memory of the ghostly creatures.

"Ah, so my arrogant disciple managed to do something of worth after all…" the shaman noted with amusement. "Yes, my dear. I take it you know where these particular Echoes came from?"

The princess nodded. "Then perhaps now you better understand our mission." He pressed on. "All this death…this destruction…that scars our beautiful Mobius could all be stopped if Daxis were to be free again. I hoped, if you could understand that, you might come to see why he must be released."

Her tired legs ready to buckle from underneath her, Sally found that Amodeus' words mixed with her own exhaustion to create a deep, boiling rage. A quiet fury in her voice, she spoke softly but strongly, "Let me go…release your hold on Sonic… and abandon your insane mission…"

"What is she rambling about?" Sonic asked in a whisper to Lilith, and then remembering his earlier unanswered question, added "How does she know my name?"

Amodeus sighed in genuine disappointment. "I see you are…un-swayed…"

Teeth gritted, fists curled, Sally shook her head.

Again, Amodeus sighed sadly. "Very well. I had hoped we could have done this the easy way…but I see you leave me with no choice."

Without turning to look at his two followers, he commanded them, "Sonic, Lilith…I am returning you to the Temple's main hall. I will be in the lower levels preparing the Ritual. See to it I am not disturbed."

They both nodded obediently. "I am truly sorry it had to be this way, my dear…" Amodeus said, and just as he had done before, he brought the bottom of his staff to the ground, creating a burst of light that engulfed all four of them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"No…no…no…"

This was the frustrated mantra of Knuckles the Echidna as he turned over page after page after page in the Book of Myths. True to his word, this had been the task that had taken up almost every waking hour of the Guardian's time since his meeting with Sally the previous day. Even now that the announcement had been made public that she was missing, most likely kidnapped, Knuckles forged on, though concern now gnawed at the back of his mind and his patience was wearing thin; he had long since lost count of how many pages he had covered with no signs of a clue to the source of Sally's ominous nightmares.

"Are you _still _going at it?" Julie-Su asked wryly from the other side of the room. Sitting on the floor of his house's living room in an almost meditative stance, the gigantic tome laid out in front of him, the red-furred fighter turned to his soul mate with a weary gleam in his eye. "I thought for sure you'd have bolted on some crazy mission to find Sally the second the news hit the streets." The ex-Dark Legionnaire continued. "I know that's what _I'M _going to do once my weapons are all loaded."

With a sigh, Knuckles answered, "You have no idea how bad I want to…", then turned his gaze back to the book and continued his seemingly futile mission and continued, "but I don't doubt there's a connection between Sally's disappearance and her nightmares. If I could just find some information on anything that could've caused those dreams, we'll be better equipped to deal with whomever it was that kidnapped her."

"And _then _we beat the tar out of them?" Julie-Su asked as she patted her holstered blaster.

"And _then _we beat the tar out of them." Knuckles echoed grimly.

Still looking through the voluminous text, he turned to a page that was strangely sparse, especially when compared to every other page he had read thus far.

_The Order of Daxis_

_Though never definitively proven, there have been rumors for almost as long as Mobian civilization has existed of a dark cult known as the Order of Daxis. The size, purpose, and methods of this cult are unknown. It is said that the Order is centered around a mysterious ritual called the Blood Pact, about which there is even less information than on the Order of Daxis itself. All that is known of the Blood Pact is a single sentence that has been found in every location the Order of Daxis is said to have been spotted at:_

"_That which is written in blood can never be forgotten."_

These were the words that stared back at Knuckles from the paper on which they were written, and as soon as he read the last sentence, the echidna instantly recognized it: it was the exact same phrase Sally had said the voice in her nightmares had spoken to her. "Julie-Su!!!" he shouted excitedly. "Come see this!!!"

"You finally found something?" Julie-Su asked, equally excited as she flew to Knuckles' side and kneeled down to look at what he had discovered.

"There!" Knuckles pointed out to her.

To say the pink echidna was disappointed was an understatement. "That's _it?_" she sighed. "And it only took you _how _many pages to find it?"

Knuckles simply grinned. "If you think I was keeping count, you're crazy!" He continued, "I know it's not much, but it's a good start. At least now we know now to look for this 'Order of Daxis'".

"I suppose so…" Julie-Su agreed.

Just then, a loud knock came from their door. Both echidnas immediately rose to their feet and went to answer it. Upon opening the door, they were greeted by Geoffrey St. John and Hershey Katt.

"Geoffrey? Hershey? What are you two doing here?" Julie-Su asked, slightly embarrassed at the sight of two of Knothole's Royal Council members at her door just as she and Knuckles had been planning their rogue actions. "Please, come inside!" she hastily added.

"Thank you," Geoffrey said as the four of them all moved into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "I assume you two heard the news about Princess Sally?" he asked, to which Knuckles and Julie-Su both nodded silently.

"I was actually just doing a little…research…to help out on that front." Knuckles replied warily, unsure if he should tell the skunk about his own plans to find Sally.

"Glad to hear it." Hershey said with a smile. As she did, though, the two echidnas noticed her exchange a nervous glance with Geoffrey. Immediately, a bad feeling welled up in the pit of Julie-Su's gut.

"_This can _ONLY _be good news…"_ Knuckles thought sardonically.

After a brief sigh, Geoffrey laid his hands on the table in front of him. "We have reason to believe it was Sonic who kidnapped the princess." He said with some restraint.

It was not enough, however, and Knuckles immediately snapped back, "What in the world makes you think it was Sonic?"

"The fact that no one's _seen _him for three days, combined with the fact that we know he came to the Lake of Rings some time last night, that's what!" Geoffrey defended.

"That's not a lot to go on, _sir!_" Knuckles retorted.

The Guardian did not dislike Geoffrey; he did not know the skunk well enough to make such a judgment. However, he had not forgotten Geoffrey's antagonism toward Sonic, nor his protective streak when it came to Sally. Together, those feelings had served to cloud his judgment before and had led the former commander to go after Sonic while the true enemy hid in plain sight. Particularly given the incontrovertible link between the Order of Daxis and Sally's nightmares he had just learned of, Knuckles was in no hurry for a repeat. Trying as ever to play mediator, Hershey spoke up. "We've sent Rotor to retrieve an old device of his, one that can lead us to Sonic. We were hoping you and Julie-Su would come with us to look for him."

Turning to Knuckles, who was in an intense glaring match with Geoffrey, Julie-Su placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should go with them…" she suggested.

"But, Julie-Su…"

"I know it's not your first choice," she said before Knuckles could finish, "It's not mine either. But they've got a better lead than us, and besides, the worst thing that happens is we find Sonic; at least then we'll have his speed on our side."

The two looked at each other for a moment. Though Knuckles wanted to protest, he knew Julie-Su had a point. Frustrating though the situation was, the Guardian focused on what the best way for finding Sally was, and he knew if anyone could do it, it would be Sonic. "Alright…" he conceded softly. "We'll go with you."

The atmosphere instantly relaxed. "However," Julie-Su piped up, "there IS something WE have to tell YOU." Heading into the living room, she quickly returned and placed the Book of Myths, still opened to the page about the Order of Daxis, in front of Geoffrey.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

With only the crystalline walls of Amodeus' underground temple to watch them, Sonic and Lilith stood in the center of the enormous room, hands only a few feet apart. "Garnt Su Het Worep…" they chanted in unison, eyes closed in focus.

Slowly but surely, a strange blackness began to grow between their hands, taking the shape of a sphere as it grew. Sparks of electricity cradled its form, and the larger it grew, the more active the sparks became. Soon the black sphere took up all the space between Sonic and Lilith's hands, tickling their fingers and palms with small shocks. Soon, however, Lilith began to feel the energy waver and tremble. "Sonic…?" she asked, opening her eyes to see if her partner was alright. The orb dissipated, its black energies fading into the ether. Sweat resting on his furrowed brow, Sonic stood in frustration, his eyes still closed, his breathing heavy.

"Are you alright?" Lilith asked, immediately closing the space between them. "You usually handle dark spheres easy. What went wrong?"

Sonic had to appreciate the concern he heard laced in her voice; growing up with only her and Amodeus as company, the hedgehog had very few people to care for him, yet she had been by his side as long as he could remember. Opening his eyes and clearing the sweat from his brow, he answered, "Yeah, just….I'm really excited. It's finally gonna happen, y'know? We're finally gonna bring Daxis back!"

Immediately Lilith's concerns vanished. "Too stoked to focus, huh?" she laughed.

Sonic smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." The smile quickly vanished, however, and with full serious he went on, "We've been waiting for this moment our whole lives, Lil. What's gonna happen to us now?"

"I don't know…" Lilith answered honestly. "…but we've come this far. Worrying now won't do us any good, right?"

Sonic nodded, though the bat could tell he was not fully convinced. Seeing that, she gave him a playful shove. Sonic wobbled slightly, only to quickly recover and shove back, though a little harder than he meant to; even then, in the midst of their play, he was distracted. Much as he disliked lying to her, the hedgehog knew it was best not to tell Lilith another concern, equal to that of his thoughts on their future, that slept in the back of his mind and disrupted his concentration. The rush he had felt while fighting the Princess, the fact she knew his name, her resilience when he thought for sure she would have fallen…all these things and more kept the Child of the Source lodged in his thoughts, thoughts that both excited him and frightened him. Something about her stirred him, and no matter how hard he tried, Sonic could not understand what it was. "_It's like Lilith said,"_ he tired to assure himself, "_there's no point in worrying about it. Once Daxis is back, she'll be out of sight, out of mind…and out of life."_

Chuckling at his own punch line, Sonic was taken by surprise as Lilith retaliated, pushing him so hard he fell to the ground. "HEY!!!" he blurted in surprise. "Oh, that is IT!" he gleefully exclaimed, recovering quickly and tackling Lilith.

The two tumbled across the floor, laughing all the way until they came to an abrupt stop. Sonic now rested on top of Lilith, who lay sprawled across the floor. Instinctively, her wings wrapped around the hedgehog, covering him like a blanket. The hedgehog could feel her warmth on his body, could see the smile on her face, the twinkle in her eye, and he knew. "_This is where I belong…"_ he thought with a feeling of security. "…_and there's no way some Princess can ever change that. Never…" _

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

The light faded, and once again Sally found herself in a new location, a small room dimly lit by dozens of ceremonial candles that lined the edges of the floor. The walls were made of a strange, misshapen mass of what looked like solid bone. However, it was what lay right in front of her that struck the princess the most. There, only inches from where Sally now stood, stood a painting of a lizard draped in a red cloak. Its face, however, was what had grabbed Sally's attention: it was the skull she had seen in her nightmares. It had an elongated snout, like that of a horse, only with no lower jaw and razor teeth like a lion. Where one might have found ears, the skull had small wings, and horns as sharp as daggers sprouting from the back of its head. Most of all, it had eyes of hateful crimson that almost looked like small flames. "Daxis..." Sally whispered in realization.

"To gaze at his visage is to know salvation," a voice came from behind, reminding the princess Amodeus was with her. "This is his sanctuary, Child of the Source."

Slowly, Sally turned to face the shaman, who stood several feet from her. As soon as he entered the squirrel's vision, she attacked. "_The staff..."_ her desperate mind reasoned, "_If I can get the staff, I can escape..."_

Alas, the princess did not make it far. The moment she began to charge at him, Amodeus simply snapped his fingers. At that, the walls began to throb and shift as if somehow alive, and from them, strange tentacles emerged. Like whips, they lashed out at Sally, wrapping around her arms and legs. At first, they felt cold and slimy, but quickly they became hard as stone, holding Sally in place. "You should show some respect." the shaman said as he approached her.

Struggling as best she could under the grip of both the tendrils and her own fatigue, Sally was surprised when Amodeus spoke again, with a far softer tone than she had heard from the goat any time before. "It's not too late, Child..." he said, "Swear loyalty to Daxis, and your soul will be spared."

"Explain..." Sally demanded bluntly, no longer in any mood for subtlety.

"You are going to die," he answered with equal bluntness, "to release the Fourth Walker and save this world. When you do, your spirit will either be lost to the ether, or more likely in your case be forced into the realm of the treacherous Aurora. Either way, you will be damned for eternity..."

A sadness entered his expression, and his face seemed to pulse along the route carved by his scar as if recalling the pain felt when the injury was first received. "I have seen too many good souls condemned to that. None deserve so cruel a fate, least of all she who will return us our savior," he continued, "Thus, I give you this one chance to save your soul. I beg of you, join the Order...give yourself to Daxis, and you shall be spared."

Sally's only answer was a cold glare and to continue her futile attempt to break free. "_Please!!!"_ Amodeus pleaded desperately.

Though struck by the sincerity of his feelings, Sally's response was unchanged. Seeing that she would not change her mind, Amodeus turned from her. With an ashamed voice, he whispered, "Very well...I am sorry I could not help you."

Again the shaman snapped his fingers, and again the walls morphed to fit the unspoken command. No longer held by tentacles, Sally was now laid flat on her back on a horizontal table that looked almost like the open mouth of a crocodile, with razor teeth dotting its edges. Her arms and legs were submerged into the table, and small, spindly claws held the back of her head down, leaving her almost completely immobile. It was a markedly unpleasant sensation, to be..._trapped_...so thoroughly, one that truly made Sally's fur bristle. Hovering over her immobile form, Amodeus drew his staff once again, causing a frightening realization in Sally's mind as she finally got a good look at the skull on the top of his staff: it was the same skull in the painting, from her nightmares...it was the skull of Daxis. "The ritual begins in rememberance...Erebemme Oruy Sempior..." Amodeus whispered as he removed the skull from his staff and placed it square on Sally's chest. Suddenly, the skull's fangs seemed to bite down into Sally, and she felt a numbing shock rattle her very being...

_The rope was being cut. This wasn't where she was supposed to be. This was _exactly _where she was supposed to be. Her thoughts a jumble, Sally's attention was forced to focus on the fact that she was high up the side of a building, supported only by a rope that was being cut by...Sonic? _"No, it's not possible...he would never...but...weren't we fighting before...?"

_All such attempts to reorient her thinking ceased as Sally felt the rope go limp in her hand, and her fall began. _"This has happened before..." _she realized as the wind cutting against her descending form began to feel frighteningly familiar. It was only when she felt the thunderstorm of pain as she collided with the hard pavement that the princess realized all that was happening was only a memory. Just as that idea began to assert itself, however, the scenario changed. The whole world seemed to...drain away...leaving only a blank white. A total black. A blank white. It changed with every second, though as she began to feel her body lose all its feeling, Sally wondered if the passing of time was even real anymore. Soon, her thoughts began to become unfocused...disparate strands of consciousness drifted in and out of her mind, a loss of cohesion almost in rhythm with the fluctuating light and darkness._

"_I have waited so long for one such as you, Child..."_

_A voice...a booming voice...yet it was not a voice, for Sally did not _hear _it...she _felt _it pound through all that was left of her perception._

"_What would you do to protect your kingdom?"_

"Anything...", _Sally's half-asleep mind tried to speak, only to find a voice no longer existed to say the words. Yet her answer did not go unknown._

"_Anything? And What would you give to protect your loved ones?"_

"Anything!" _the honest but unchecked sentiment repeated itself, again managing to register with the other entity._

"_Listen wEll...you are trapped now between life and death. Soon, your spirit will pass on. If you die, your kingdom will fall. Do you wish for this to happen?"_

_Sally knew the answer without even having to think. _"NO!!!"

"_Then hear my will: I will bind my life force to your blood, restoring you to your body, and you may carry on the fight to protect that which you love..."_

"And...in return...?" _Sally's mind managed to force out as a small burst of clarity flew through her._

"_Simple: when your spirit tires of the living world, you shall return the gift to me, and allow me to leave this realm of nothingness at last."_

_Something deep within Sally's very being sensed an ominous undercurrent to the proposal, but such concerns were fogged and unclear, unable to overcome the din of fear stirred up in the princess by the thought of losing what she loved. _

"_Do you accept the terms of the blood pact?"_

_Her fear struggled with her doubt, until at last they simply merged into the only answer Sally could make sense of: _"Yes."

"_Very well. You shall have no memory of our encounter until the time comes to fulfill your promise, lest it influence your spirit unfairly. Now...We shall write our pact in blood..."_

_From the ever-shifting shadows and lights, a mysterious hand took form. Sonic...Tails...Bunnie...her father...all her friends and family, everything she had ever known...it was a hand comprised of all these things, things she could protect if she could just reach out and grab it. Ignoring that she could not feel her arm, Sally willed herself to take the hand, to save them all. A jolt of feeling flowing through her mind told her she had succeeded._

"_The pact is sealed. Live again, child, and know this: though you may not remember this moment, you have made this choice of your own accord, and I will not forget that. Now Live...Live..."_

_The voice faded, and suddenly Sally felt _everything _come back; her sight, her hearing, her feeling...she knew they had returned, for through her slitted eyes she saw a familiar blue hedgehog kneeling over her. She heard his voice, distraught and sincere, whisper tearfully, _"Come back, Sal...I love you..."

_She felt his lips upon hers. _"Sonic...?"

With a violent shock, Sally was returned to reality. She still lay upon the mouth-like table, the skull still rested on her chest, and Amodeus still stood over her. "Do you remember?" the shaman asked.

Sally did not, _could not_, answer at first. All over, she felt sick. Her tired body was reeling from the shock sent through it by the force of the returned memory, and a terrible guilt now hung in her heart. "Are you _finally _starting to understand?" Amodeus asked after a few moments. "You _chose _this path. You took the great Daxis' gift of life, and now you must return it."

Struggling just to speak, Sally coughed, "He...tricked me..."

The goat's fist landed within an inch of her head. "_TRICKED _you?" he roared indignantly. "He _SAVED _you! Do you believe that, if your promise was forged only in deceit, we would even _be _here right now? Do not try to hide behind your own weakness and claim it as trickery, you ungrateful Child!"

Sally gulped fearfully. This was the second time in the short period she had known the shaman that his mood had snapped ferociously at even the implication that Daxis was anything other than perfect. Before, she had been in a position to use that to her advantage, but now, restrained and exhausted, it was terrifying to witness. Perhaps more frightening than that, however, was that she could hear a certain truth to his words. How could she have been so _weak_? How could she allow her emotions to override her judgment like that? Amodeus lifted his fist with a deep growl. "But perhaps I judge you too harshly..."

The goat opened his fist, moving it in a strange pattern across his body, and muttered something under his breath that Sally could not make out. "The Promise is remembered," he said, returning to his previous calm demeanor with frightening ease. "Ot Het Xten Set'p."

Sally remained as defiant as she could, but her mind and body were quickly losing the will to bother. Placing his hand into the fold of his crimson robe, Amodeus brought out a bejeweled dagger in his right hand. Its ruby-encrusted hilt shone ominously in the candlelight, which seemed to be stronger than it had been before. "After all, you are the key to the beginning of this planet's rebirth. I am sure you can be forgiven your...failings..."

He then brought the knife down upon his left palm, cutting across it as deeply as he could. The shaman then placed the bloodied hand down upon the four spots on the table where Sally's limbs would have been if they were not trapped beneath. Though his hand did not move, when the goat returned it to his side, there were now strange crimson markings where his wound had been placed. "That which is written in blood can never be forgotten..." Amodeus said lowly. "The ritual continues in connection...Toccenn, Degrib, Polcemet..." "

The bloody symbols glowed, and Sally could feel a burning sensation running through her. As the seconds passed by, the burning grew stronger. Before long, it had gotten to the point where Sally felt as if she were being eaten away at by flames. Trembling uncontrollably, the princess stubbornly gritted her teeth. Amodeus shook his head sadly. "Stop fighting it, Child...this pain is only your ascendance as the ritual uses your body to bridge the world of life and the world between, an action of cosmic proportions. You can not hope to stop it, only to accept it."

"Never..." she gurgled. "_I can't...I can't fail again...I have to be strong..."_

A bizarre mist began to emerge from the symbols, and Sally's pain became even greater. The strands of mist began to merge together above her, creating a bizarre whirlpool that spun almost lazily directly over the skull of Daxis. The spin changed quickly, however, with its speed gradually increasing with each second that passed, and the faster it spun, the more Sally's agony grew. Desperate to shut out the hurt, she closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying desperately to think of something, ANYTHING else. Yet all her mind kept coming back to was that terribly memory, that moment when she had surrendered herself to her fears and allowed this nightmare to begin. "_I have to be strong!!!"_ Sally tried to remind herself, but it was sentiment that felt increasingly hollow as she could feel her very soul quiver from its suffering.

Tears formed in her eyes.

"_I have to be strong!"_

She could feel all the anguish well up inside of her, begging for release.

"_I have to be strong."_

It was if there was no barrier between her and all the pain in the world.

"_I have to be strong..."_

She wanted to move, to writhe, yet even this was denied to her.

"_I have...to be..."_

No. She could not pretend any longer. Strong? Sally no longer knew what that meant. All she knew was that it hurt. It hurt so badly she just wanted to be gone and never have to feel anything again, if it only meant the pain would go away. "_I'm weak..." _she lamented, and at last a painful howl erupted from inside her. Even Amodeus cringed at the sound of it. The whirlpool began to grow, and soon a haunting light began to emerge from its center. It then gave way to a shroud of darkness. A ray of light, a shroud of darkness, a ray of light...

Through the fog of torturous pain that now gripped her every nerve, Sally heard a voice:

"So...you've come to me at last..."

**To Be Continued...**


	5. The Gathering

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's Note: It's a shame format can't use different fonts; I had a great font picked out for Daxis, but it didn't translate when I uploaded the chapter. Ah, well.

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Five: The Gathering

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Sifting through the seemingly endless piles of obsolete technology, Rotor had to admit he was fast losing patience with his attempt to find the device Geoffrey had sent him to retrieve. "_Did I really _build _all this stuff...?"_ he pondered absentmindedly as his seemingly futile search continued.

It had been the walrus' hope to have found the tracking device built to locate Sonic before Geoffrey and Hershey returned from recruiting Knuckles and Julie-Su, but that was becoming increasingly unlikely. Just as Rotor prepared to give up all hope, a slight tap on his shoulder caught his attention. Turning around, he saw Tails holding a familiar machine in his right hand, a small black rectangular object with a blinking blue screen in its center. "The tracker!" Rotor exclaimed in joyful surprise.

"I found it earlier," Tails said with a smile, though Rotor noted a strange tone in his voice.

Moving away from the mountains of old inventions with a sigh of relief, Rotor reached for the tracker with a polite "Thank you," only to have Tails yank it away from him at the last second. It was then the inventor was struck by a realization: Tails had no way of knowing he had been looking for the tracker. "Tails...?" the inventor asked warily.

"Let me come with you," he answered firmly, "or I'll go after Sonic alone." Seeing the question form in Rotor's eyes, the young fox continued, "I saw the search party leaving Knothole and realized something was wrong, so I flew to the council room and listened in on your meeting."

Tails intentionally omitted the part where he had seen the party leave only because he was patrolling the skies as he had for the last few mornings as a way of relieving the terrible stress his previous encounter with Sonic had left him with. For his part, Rotor was struck by the situation he was now in; under different circumstances, it might have been funny. Back when the fight against Robotnik had begun so many years ago, he and the others often made the mistake of underestimating Tails because of his youth; now the fox had grown quite a bit, yet they still made the same mistake. Focusing on the task at hand, Rotor gave a deep sigh before he spoke to the fox. "Look, Tails...I appreciate your concern, but we can't let you come with us, it's too dangerous."

"They're my family, Rotor...", Tails insisted. "I have to help them."

Rotor prepared to argue further, but one look at Tails' eyes showed a determination that would make any such attempt futile. Shoulders slumped in relent, the walrus simply muttered, "Geoffrey's not gonna like this..."

Tails' demeanor lightened. "Thank you, Rotor." he said warmly.

Rotor was unsure what to feel then: glad that he had done Tails a favor, or upset that no sooner had he finished _one _headache-inducing mission, he had just been coerced into another one.

Sonic _really _wished the Princess would stop screaming. Even through the stone floor that separated the main chamber from the sanctuary where the Princess was being held, he could hear it loud and clear. To be frank, it was quite annoying, and disturbing his attempts to take a good nap. The hedgehog was not alone in his frustration; perched upside down on the roof, Lilith squirmed as if in pain. "Gahh!!!" she shrieked angrily. "I can't _stand _that squirrel's whining anymore!!!"

Sonic sympathized; as bad as it was for him, for Lilith and her sensitive bat-ears, it was probably ten times worse. Impatient as always, the hedgehog was quick to suggest a solution to the problem. "If it's such a bother, let's get outta here."

Even as she squeezed her ears to the side of her head in a futile attempt to shut out the noise, Lilith bit her lip in uncertainty. "I don't know, Blue...I mean, Amodeus told us to stay here..."

Sonic had to grin at the bat's nervousness. Even when they had been growing up together, she had been fearful of the old goat, while he could never be bothered to care. "He didn't say we couldn't _leave_, either..." he argued with a laugh.

Lilith did not answer right away, looking off in thought. Her silence allowed the annoying screams to re-enter Sonic's hearing. The longer he listened to them uninterrupted, the more he desperately wished to be away from them. Foot tapping up and down with annoyed frequency, he shouted up to his partner impatiently, "Well?"

A part of Lilith desperately wished to go with him, but she had learned long ago what it meant to defy Amodeus. "_I wish I had your courage, Blue..."_ she thought sadly. "_I wish I could finally face my fears..."_

Alas, the bat knew that simply wanting Sonic's courage did not give it to her. Reluctantly, she called back down, "Sorry, Blue...if you wanna go, you'll have to go on your own..."

Though not surprised, Sonic had to admit he was disappointed. He was unsure if he even wanted to bother leaving if Lilith stayed behind, but it only took a few seconds of the damnable shrieking to convince him. "Guess I'll be seeing ya, Lil..." he sighed. With that, he put on a burst of speed and tore through the chamber gates.

"See ya, Blue..." Lilith whispered longingly, no longer quite so aware of the shrieks that pierced her hearing.

Bursting through the other side, Sonic rushed out onto the open fields that surrounded the hidden temple. Though a good deal of the structure was located underground, a small portion of it was located on the surface. To any who saw it, the temple's entrance was a small and simple building: a single domed room with no windows, one door, and a painting of the planet. It was through that painting that Sonic emerged, as if he were passing through liquid, and if another possessed the blessings of the Order, they could pass through the painting in the same way. "_Glad to finally be out of there..."_ Sonic thought to himself as the gap between himself and the temple widened.

He cared deepy for Lilith, and though he would never admit it aloud, the hedgehog even had a grudging respect for Amodeus. Most of all, Sonic believed in their mission. The young speedster had seen how Mobius constantly suffered from the chaos wrought by its inhabitants, and he wanted to see that destruction ended. And yet..."_How could you say that, Sonic? After everything we've been through?"_ an unwelcome memory nagged at him.

"Oh no you don't," Sonic muttered to himself as the Princess' words rang in his mind, "I got out of that temple to get _away _from you..."

Distracted and unfocused, the hedgehog barely took notice of his surroundings, instead blindly bolting across the terrain. It was thus with a bit of surprise that Sonic found himself coming to a stop in the midst of a most peculiar site: an abandoned city, Overlander from the look of its architecture, that was...not ruined, exactly, but...hollowed was the only word Sonic could think to describe the place. The buildings still stood, but large chunks of them were missing and their windows were all broken. The streets were pristine, but empty. It was a ghost town in the truest sense of the word. If not for the faintest echo of footsteps, the hedgehog would have sworn it was completely abandoned. Yet the sound was there, and so he knew he was not alone. Turning to where the noise had come from, it was only a moment too late that the hedgehog stepped out of the way as he saw a small kunai dagger flew through the air, grazing his cheek. Even as he felt a small trickle of blood drip down the side of his face, the hedgehog ran up the side of the nearest building, stopping at the roof to overlook the area. To his surprise, his enemy entered the open without hesitation. Though his height was hard to judge from Sonic's vantage point, it seemed the attacker was small, a full head shorter than the hedgehog. Dressed in a red ninja gi and mask with a slim katana strapped to his back, the assailant's four arms signified he was a spider. "Hey!!!" Sonic shouted, excited at the prospect of a good scrap, "Didn't your mom ever teach you not to play with knives?"

With those words, Sonic leapt off the rooftop and into a spin dash, crashing directly in front of the spider ninja. The spinning hedgehog soon began to circle his enemy like a shark, coming in closer to his target with each rotation. With a surprisingly high leap, the ninja leapt over Sonic, who stopped spinning once the warrior was clear of his attack. "Aw, running away so soon?" he asked smugly. "Not yet, pal."

With a boom, Sonic pursued the spider. To his shock, however, rather than reaching his target, he fell flat on his face: something had wrapped his legs together, tripping him at the last second. Angrily swerving his head to see who had interfered, Sonic was surprised to see two more ninjas, each identical to the one he had just been chasing, standing upon the rooftop of a small building with lengthy chains in their hands. "_Where did _they _come from?"_ Sonic wondered.

It did not take the hedgehog long to figure out the chains were what had hindered his attack, and so he flipped himself over to face the new enemies. "Bet you guys think you're _so _clever, dontcha?" he asked with a laugh. "Pin his legs and he's helpless, right?"

Clapping his hands together, Sonic slowly pulled them apart. Strands of electricity seemed to crackle in-between his fingertips, and an eery black sphere began to grow between his hands. "Wrong."

With a thrust, Sonic opened his hands fully, sending the black sphere flying at incredible speeds towards the two ninjas. Though they managed to dodge, the spider twins were then knocked off their feet when the orb collided with the building behind them, creating an explosion that sent them flying. The chains immediately slackened on Sonic's legs, allowing him to slip out of them and silently thank his good luck. Though he had trained on using the Dark Sphere since he had been young, Sonic was still only able to use it most effectively when Lilith was there to help him. Whenever he tried it alone, it was usually unstable or else far weaker than normal; fortunately for the hedgehog's situation, this had been the latter. Back on his feet, Sonic prepared to go after the first ninja, even as he wondered why the spider had not taken the opportunity to attack while he had been incapacitated. To the hedgehog's surprise, the ninja had gone after his own dagger, still stuck in the same building side, and was preparing to pull it out. "Get your priorities straight, ya four-armed freak!" Sonic bellowed as he dashed over to the ninja. "Kill your enemy, _then _pick up your toys!"

Just as the spider reached the foot of the building his kunai was buried in, Sonic appeared beside him and launched his elbow at the ninja's face. To the hedgehog's surprise, his arm was grabbed inches from its target. "_No_ way _he had enough time to counter that..."_ Sonic thought in shock.

The hedgehog was literally knocked out of his distraction as the ninja slammed his free fist into Sonic's face, releasing the hedgehog's arm so that he could fall over. Without a word, the ninja leapt onto the wall, climbing along it without having to grab any ledges. "Stupid spider..." Sonic growled as he recovered.

A whooshing sound entered the hedgehog's ear, and as he ducked to avoid it, another dagger flew into the building's side. Three more followed it, and though Sonic managed to dodge each one, he was growing annoyed. As the two other ninjas approached, literally bouncing off the walls to make a speedy assault, the hedgehog rose again. Deciding to push his luck, he placed his hands together once more and began to attempt a dark sphere. Alas, this time he was not so fortunate, and the attack crackled and faded before it could form. "Damn it..." he cursed as his opponents drew closer.

A loud whistle seemed to cut through the air then. Looking upwards to its source, Sonic saw the first ninja, his blood-tipped kunai now in hand, standing straight on the building's side. Immediately, his companions ceased their approach. While the flustered hedgehog struggled to understand what, exactly, was going on, his enemies all reached into their pockets. Before Sonic had time to act, all three had pulled out small pellets and thrown them to the ground, causing blinding clouds of smoke to envelop them. "COWARDS!!!" Sonic shouted angrily at their retreat, rushing upward to where the first ninja had been.

His fists both extended, he charged through the smoke in hope of hitting his target. To the hedgehog's further enragement, no such target was found by the time he had reached the roof. Shouting angrily, the hedgehog punched the air in frustration. After a moment, his temper cooled, but only slightly, giving room for Sonic to wonder, as he touched the small wound on his cheek, what exactly his enemies had wanted.

Tails and Rotor approached the edge of Knothole nervously. This was the meeting place Geoffrey had selected for his team to depart, which meant each step the two Freedom Fighters took toward the village limits was one step closer to a confrontation neither was looking forward to. The pavement eventually gave way to grassy fields, however, and so whether they wanted it or not, the time had come for the young fox to make his stand. "_No matter what,"_ Tails resolved, "_I'm going to find Sonic and Sally."_

It was not long before Tails and Rotor found the small group of Knuckles, Hershey, Julie-Su, and Geoffrey standing alongside one of Robotnik's old hover craft units. Soon enough, the skunk noticed the approaching duo. Deciding to simply go all out, Tails propelled himself forward with the twin appendages that were his namesake until he and Geoffrey were nose to nose. "I am coming with you!" the fox said with the same strength he had used with Rotor.

To the fox's shock, the response was a calm, simple, "Very well."

Rotor, who reached the group in time to hear that, practically fell over himself in surprise. "Really?" he blurted unintentionally.

Geoffrey smiled knowingly. "To be honest, I was expecting you'd find out sooner or later. I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't."

"So...", Tails guessed, "you _knew _I'd be coming?"

The skunk nodded. "Don't get me wrong," he warned, his jovial attitude now stern, "I'm not thrilled at the idea of you coming with us; this mission is dangerous, and the fewer people on it, the better..." A lighter tone returned to him as he finished, "...but I also know you'll go looking for Sonic, with or without us, so it might as well be with us."

For a moment, the fox was silent. Certainly, whatever he had expected Geoffrey's reaction to be, this was not it. Recovering quickly from his stupor, he heartily shook the commander's hand. "Thank you, sir!" he said, hastily adding the last word to convey proper respect, "You won't regret this, I promise!"

"Welcome aboard, Tails. It's good to know you'll be coming with us." Knuckles congratulated.

As the group boarded the hover craft, Hershey explained, "We'll be using one of the old hovercrafts we managed to find and repair in case we run into any of Eggman's patrol ships."

Once everyone was inside, Geoffrey closed the door and sat down at the pilot's seat. Turning it around to face the others, he said, "Alright, men!" After a friendly nudge from Hershey, he started over, "Alright, team! We've left Antoine, Sir Charles, and Doctor Quack in charge of the city for the duration of our absence, and will maintain radio contact with them at all times to inform them of our progress. We will try to avoid combat if possible, but I can't guarantee anything. Rotor, Tails, you two came in a bit late, so Knuckles and Julie-Su will fill you in on the new information we've gotten."

"New information?" Rotor interrupted. "What new information?"

"We'll talk about it on the way," Knuckles assured.

Geoffrey coughed lightly, signaling the two to be quiet and allow him to finish. "I don't know what is going to happen on this mission," he said honestly, "but there is a good chance we will be placed in extreme danger. If anyone wishes to back out now," and Tails was not ignorant of Geoffrey's quick glance at him, "this is the time."

To no one's surprise, the offer was met with only silence. "Very well then," Geoffrey concluded, "let's get moving."

With that, he returned the seat to its original position and faced the controls. Everyone else settled down in their own little spot on the relatively cramped vehicle, with Hershey taking her place at the co-pilot's seat. "You ready?" she asked quietly as her husband activated the ship with unsteady hands.

"Always, luv, always." Geoffrey whispered back confidently.

Rotor switched the tracker on, handing it to Hershey once its radar screen flickered to life. Looking it over, the cat observed, "We've got a reading due north."

"Than North it is." Geoffrey answered.

The group felt the ship rumble as it slowly lifted from the ground, rising higher and higher until it was above the tallest trees in the forest. Once its ascent was complete, the ship launched forth, sending an unprepared Rotor tumbling to the back. "You OK?" an unshaken Julie-Su asked, to which the weary walrus gave a thumbs up.

Once things had settled, Knuckles explained the glimpse of information he had attained through the Book of Myths to Rotor and Tails. To say the least, Rotor was intrigued. "I had read about cults of that kind popping up across Mobius during the formative days of current society..." he mused thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I believe there was even a cult called the Order of Ixis that came into prominence during the reign of King Frederick..."

"Ixis? As in Ixis Naugus?" Tails interjected.

Rotor nodded. "I'd always suspected a connection, but I'd never found any conclusive evidence..."

"Let's stay focused, guys," Knuckles interrupted. "Rote, what do you _know _about these old cults?"

Rotor had to think about that for a moment before answering, "Not much. They were all very secretive, existing on the fringes of Mobian society. However, they did all seem to worship the same deities, if different variations of them. Ixis, for example, seemed to have been a collective name for the Ancient Walkers used in certain circles."

"So you think 'Daxis' might be another name for them?" Julie-Su asked.

"I'm not sure," Rotor admitted. "Some of the cults worshiped the Walkers as separate beings rather than a collective, so Daxis could refer to one specific Walker."

Hand to his chin in thought, Knuckles shook his head in disagreement. "Whatever that creature Sally told me about from her nightmares was, it didn't sound like an Ancient Walker to me..."

"How much do we really know about them, though?" Tails asked. "You, me, 'n' Sonic are the only ones who've ever seen them face to face before, and we didn't exactly walk away with an encyclopedia of info on them."

As the conversation continued, several loud clanks were heard on the roof, shaking the ship slightly. "What was _that_?" Rotor asked nervously.

"I don't know..." Geoffrey responded, tightening his grip on the controls in fear he had somehow made a mistake. "Everything seems fine with the ship..."

Without hesitation, Tails opened the ship's oval window. "I'll check it out!" he said, and true to his word, the fox was gone before Geoffrey could shout "Tails, wait!!!"

Falling through the clouds, the young fox soon willed his tails in to motion, spinning around faster and faster until they were able to guide him through the air. Swooping upwards, Tails flew back to the ship as fast as he could. As he came in closer, the fox began to see three shadowy figures perched upon the roof: spider ninjas. "Uma Arachnis' kids..." he realized aloud.

Tails had never met "The Arachne" as Sally had called them, but she had told her foster nephew about the large ninja clan of spiders and how they had been entrusted with the Sword of Acorns when Sally realized the sword had been trying to control her. The fox could tell their arrival now was no coincidence. Moving in closer, he chose to fly alongside the hovercraft rather than get on top of it; he didn't know how the three Arachne were staying still on its roof, but the fox knew if he tried to land, he would simply be swept off by the winds. It did not take long for the spiders to notice him. "The Chosen One..." they all simultaneously intoned reverently, bowing in respect.

"Uh...hi..." Tails responded awkwardly. "What are you guys doing here?"

They all answered in turn, each one's words flowing into the next in succession. "We wish to provide you assistance."

"The Child of the Source is in grave danger, and the Sword commands us to give aid to her."

"You seek the Blue One, but finding him alone will not be enough."

Ignoring the shiver their almost mechanical speech pattern sent through him, Tails asked, "What do you mean?"

"He is hidden in a temple we can not find."

"We only know entry is not possible unless your blood is promised."

"We have his blood, and so we can enter."

Although a bit confused, it was easy enough for Tails to get what they're saying. "Well, I'll see if I can get Geoffrey to land...maybe we can talk this out." he suggested, lowering himself to the window he had flown from in the first place.

As he did, the Arachne warned, "Time grows short."

"The Forbidden Walker draws closer..."

"We must hurry."

It hurt to breathe. It hurt _not _to breath. In fact, it hurt simply to _exist _at that moment. Though the gate had been forged and the pain it brought with it had stopped, the after-effects of its creation were equally cruel upon the Princess' body. Struggling just to open her eyes, Sally was barely even conscious any more. Yet she could hear a voice...a familiar, terrible voice straight from her worst nightmare, that rang like thunder in her ears, and it snapped her mind awake.

"**The gate is formed...I can feel it..."**

"Yes, Lord Daxis...all that is left now is for her blood to be given to you, and you can return to this world."

"**Then DO IT, Shaman...I am eager to bring this world its salvation at last."**

"Now, My Lord? I would prefer we let her...rest...a bit. She is our savior, and deserves..."

"_**I **_**am your savior, Shaman. You would do well to remember that!"**

"A thousand pardons, My Lord...I simply meant that she is the key to restoring you to this world. The least we can give her is one last time of peace before her end."

"**Very well...she shall have one hour, and then we finally end this. Agreed?"**

"Agreed."

Tired and unfocused, Sally still struggled desperately to use what she had just learned to create a plan of escape. At last, her eyes opened, giving her a blurred view of the chamber. She was still on the strange bone altar, and the swirling vortex of energy still rested above her, though it seemed larger now than before. Amodeus stood by her side, but by the time the squirrel's vision cleared enough to realize that, he had already begun to leave the room. "Where...where'reyougoin'..." Sally asked with some effort, even then only managing a slurred sentence.

"To give you some time alone." the shaman answered without turning back to look at Sally. "I recommend you use your final hour to look back upon your life and contemplate the paths you have taken, Child. Perhaps that will give you the peace you so desperately need..."

With those words, Amodeus seemed to meld into the wall, and was gone. Still exhausted from her experience, Sally could not muster the strength to struggle against her bonds, only to think. Unfortunately, this too proved difficult, because every train of thought she could create all ultimately came to the same conclusion. She had failed, and now the world was going to suffer for it.

"**Child...why must you think of these things in such wrong-headed terms?"**

"My...myhead..." Sally gurgled, "yourinmyhead..."

"**No need to struggle with words, my dear...I can hear your thoughts just as easily."**

The princess was in no rush to talk with Daxis, and so she tried to keep her thoughts clear and silent. It was ultimately futile, however, and the disembodied voice continued to speak to her.

"**You can not hide your thoughts from me, Child. They are as bright as the sun."**

"_What do you _WANT _from me?"_ Sally's mind shrieked angrily. "_You already have my body, and once Amodeus comes back you'll have my blood too! Isn't that what you want? What more are you after?"_

At that, Daxis laughed, a terrifying, electric sound that caused Sally's fur to stand on end. "**All I want is to talk. Does that terrify you so?" **After a moment of silence, the voice continued, "**Are you afraid talking to me will reveal things you don't want to know?"**

"_No." _The thought rose unbidden from Sally's mind, but it was true. "_I'm not afraid of you..."_

"**OF course you aren't," **Sally felt the smug words course through her, "**You are far more frightened of yourself...your weakness..."**

Sally's heart skipped a beat. "_That's not true..."_

"**I told you, Child, it is pointless to try and hide yourself from me. I can see everything you are, know everything you think and feel...we are bound now, you and I, and so I feel the fear that claws at you." **

Ignoring how badly it hurt to move, the squirrel finally began to try and escape from the altar. She knew it was useless, but she did not care. "_You don't know me as well as you think you do!"_ Sally envisioned the thought as an arrow, shot at Daxis in defiance.

There was no answer at first, only a feeling that crashed upon Sally like a wave. It was like being crushed under a huge weight, the pressure gradually growing greater and greater. Just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling passed. "**A Familiar feeling, isn't it, Child?"** Daxis finally spoke again. "**Everyone depending on you, so many responsibilities piling upon your shoulders...you have lived with that terrible weight since you were a mere child."**

"_That's part of what being a leader _means"Sally mentally hissed. "_It's not always pleasant, but I learned to live with the burden of responsibility."_

Sally could practically _feel _the smile on the deity's face as he chuckled, "**Perhaps. Yet whether you learned to live with it or not, it did harvest a terrible fear in your heart, didn't it?"**

The princess became terribly cold then, shivering uncontrollably. "_You..."_ her rattled mind thought, "_you're...toying with me, aren't you?"_

Again, Daxis' terrible laughter echoed across the room. "**You are just so very fun to toy **_**with**_**, Child..."**

Rather than compose a response, Sally screamed her venomous disapproval. "_No more games!!!"_ her mind shouted as loudly as her voice.

A violent quake shook the room at her words. "**No more? My dear, the games have only just **_**begun..."**_

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Into the Darkness

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Author's Note: Haven't had a lot of time to work on this lately, so I'm sorry for another late update. Hope you enjoy it anyway, though.

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Six: Into the Darkness

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Everyone was looking at them. Standing on that wide open stage, the only light the firecrackers bursting in the night sky, Sally looked at Sonic warmly. After a year of hoping he would return, constantly telling herself he would, the Princess had been rewarded. He was finally home, and she had been given a chance to take what had slipped through her grasp before. More than anything, Sally wanted Sonic to be with her, now more than ever. Watching him vanish on that fateful day so long ago, seemingly never to return, had made the squirrel realize just how important Sonic truly was to her. Hands clasped to her heart, Sally spoke softly, "Even though my parents are still the official monarchs of the kingdom, I'll be overseeing the daily operations of the city."

It had been a surprise to Sally, to learn her parents planned to leave Knothole for a time to explore the world. Once she had learned her father had chosen her to rule in his stead, however, Sally knew she could not do so alone. "They've given me a tremendous responsibility, and it's going to be a big mantle to bear." Her heart began to beat faster as the next words left her mouth, "That's why I want _you _to rule by my side while they're away."

"Me?" Sonic responded in surprise.

"You _are _my consort, after all..." came her shaky answer; the situation was tense enough without him having to act so off-guard.

For a moment, the hedgehog said nothing. The silence was deafening for Sally as she anxiously waited for an answer, _any _answer, to come from him. At last, Sonic smiled and, giving a big thumbs-up to her, laughed, "For you, Sal? Anything!"

Tears of joy welled up in the Princess' eyes. "Oh, Sonic..." she spoke shakily.

"I love you, Sal," Sonic said, placing his hand upon the squirrel's, still pressed over her heart. "I want to be with you, no matter where you go or what happens."

Without another thought, Sally wrapped her arms around the hedgehog and pulled him into a warm embrace. "I love you too, Sonic..." she whispered to him, "I love you so much..."

Sonic returned the hug, nuzzling Sally's hair gently. Placing his hand on her chin, the hedgehog then lifted Sally's face up to match his own and gave her a passionate kiss. Their spirits feeling as tightly locked as their bodies, the lovers tuned out the loud cheers of the gathered crowd, focused solely on each other. It was then that Sally realized she could not remember a time in her life when she had been happier. Just as that feeling of overwhelming joy began to emerge, however, it all seeped away. The sky, the forest...Sonic...all of it seemed to turn to dust and blow off into oblivion. "No..." she whispered in terror, her tears of joy turning to ones of sorrow. "NO!!!"

Blackness consumed Sally's vision, and with a terrible jolt she found herself back in that damned altar. Racked with the same anguish she had felt upon returning from the memory of her first meeting with Daxis, Sally coughed and shuddered. No longer able to hold it back, she began to cry. Miserable, broken, and ashamed, Sally cried freely, even though the squirrel knew she was being watched by the same entity that had delivered that cruel vision. "**Futile Tears..." **his accursed voice spoke mockingly, "**They earn you nothing..."**

Even though the words reverberated inside Sally's very mind, she paid them little heed. All she could hear, all she could see, was that face...green eyes, a loving smile with the promise of adventure in it...that voice, which spoke with a strength Sally desperately wished she could possess at that moment. "Why..." she sobbed, thoughts and feelings confused and dizzied, "Why couldn't he have just said yes...?"

"**None of this would be happening if he had just said yes!!!"** Daxis finished for Sally, a voice of rage that the squirrel feared reflected her thought too well. "**Selfish, stupid, immature..."**

"Stop it..." the Princess coughed as she recognized her thoughts were being put into Daxis' words. "Please...stop it..."

From within the ever-shifting vortex that was his only link to the living world, Daxis could not help but feel great exhilaration at her plea. It had been so long since he had felt at _all_, and now that he could again, it was beyond his wildest imaginings how rapturous it was. Picking apart this pitiful flesh creature from the inside out, feeling her every doubt, fear, sorrow, joy...it was delicious. Now, at last, the Walker had begun to crack through her defenses, and watching them crumble added one more layer of pleasure to the experience. Speaking through the portal, he answered at last, "**I can not stop now, Child. There are far too many things left for you to feel...for **_**me **_**to feel...**"

Storm clouds gathering over his head, Sonic rushed back toward the temple. The cut on his cheek still stung lightly, but it was nothing the hedgehog could not handle. Far more frustrating to him was the mysterious nature of the enemies he had fought. They had seemingly come from nowhere, attacked, then vanished before it seemed they had accomplished anything more than cutting his face and getting him angry. "_What did they want...?"_ was the question that still floated around Sonic's mind as the entrance to the temple came into view. "Enpo Os We Aym Ssap!" the speedster shouted just as he was about to collide with the painting that hid the temple's entrance.

Melding into the painting and entering the torch-lit hallway, Sonic started to laugh. There was no game more fun or exciting for him than seeing just how close he could come to slamming into the wall before activating the gate to the temple. Each and every time, the hedgehog would try to cut it just a second closer. His amusement offset his frustration over the strange attack a bit, but it was still prominently on his mind by the time the hedgehog screeched to a halt in the main chamber. Spinning around to face where he had come from, Sonic's spirits lifted a little more when he saw Lilith fly down from the ceiling to greet him. "That was quick," she observed as the two embraced.

"Like everything else I do." Sonic responded with a wink.

A loud crack echoed across the chamber then, causing the two to separate in surprise. Sonic did not need to turn around to recognize the sound as Amodeus' staff slamming into the floor; the hedgehog had heard it so many times over the years he knew its every nuance. "And so he returns..." the goat's biting voice came. "I _specifically _instructed you to stay here, did I not?"

Giving the shaman a flippant wave of his hand, Sonic kept his back to Amodeus as he answered dismissively, "I'm here now, ain't I?"

Exhaustion exacerbating his frustration at the speedster's attitude, Amodeus shouted out "YOU WILL FACE ME WHEN SPEAKING!!!", crashing his staff to the ground again, its power causing the whole room to tremble.

"Do it, Blue..." Lilith whispered with a twinge of fear in her voice. "Before he gets _really _angry..."

One aggravated groan later, Sonic raised his arms in surrender. "OK, OK..." he muttered as he turned to face Amodeus.

"Ah, that's more..."

The shaman's calmer sentence died in his throat as the cut on Sonic's cheek entered his vision. "Where...did you...get that wound...?" he asked haltingly through gritted teeth.

Noticing Amodeus' darkening mood, the hedgehog quickly uttered out "Nowhere, just...y'know...a little cut on, like, a rock or somethin'..."

Sonic reasoned it better that Amodeus think him a bit clumsy than to learn of the scuffle. No sooner had the lie left his lips, however, then Sonic felt his feet slowly rise off the ground. Looking up at Amodeus, the hedgehog's heart chilled as he saw the shaman's hand opened up at him, a frightful red glow surrounding its finger tips. "LIAR!!!" Amodeus roared, pushing his palm forward.

Sonic was then sent flying upwards through the air, stopping only when his back crashed into the chamber's giant gate with such force the hedgehog could feel the wood behind him break apart. His own quills keeping him stuck to the gate, Sonic was left jarred and hurting from the unexpected attack. Before he could get up to react, another surprise came to him in the form of Amodeus' hand around his throat. Floating in front of the dazed hedgehog, Amodeus' grip tightened as he hissed, "What happened? Tell me the _truth!!!_"

Within a heartbeat, Lilith had flown up next to them. "Leave him alone!" she shouted.

"His blood was shed, you fool!" the shaman roared at her. "He has placed everything we have fought for in danger!"

Sonic expected Lilith to defend him. His heart sank when, instead, the bat placed her hands upon her mouth in horror, a terrible realization evident in her eyes. "What. HAPPENED?" Amodeus repeated his query even more forcefully.

Struggling just to breath through the iron hold around his lungs, Sonic barely managed to choke out, "Spiders...buncha ninja spiders attacked me..."

Amodeus' rage immediately hit the boiling point then. Slowly backing away from Sonic, the shaman seemed to quiver with anger. "You..." he rasped, "You FOOL!!!" A powerful wind curled around him as his whole body pulsed with crimson energy, pushing even Lilith away with its force. "Do you have ANY idea what you've DONE!?!"

"Not...really..." Sonic coughed with a defiant glare.

The red light around Amodeus died down, giving Lilith a chance to return to the goat's side. "He didn't mean to, Amodeus..." she said pleadingly, "He couldn't have known..."

"The ninjas took the weapon that gave you that cut, didn't they?" the shaman asked with a frightfully calm tone.

Sonic nodded. Amodeus mimicked the gesture derisively, and slowly turned from the hedgehog in disgust. "Those spiders are agents of the Source of All," he intoned gravely, "and you have just given them the key to our sanctuary."

The air hung silent with that statement. Even though he did not fully understand, it was not hard for Sonic to grasp the general meaning of what he had just been told. It left a crushing guilt in his heart, the knowledge that his recklessness may have endangered the Order and its sacred mission. "Forgive me..." he croaked after what felt like an eternity of haunting quiet.

"I forgive you," Amodeus answered after a moment. "However, I am afraid you must still be held responsible for your actions."

With a predator's grace, the goat turned to face Sonic once more with his hand open. The hedgehog then floated from the broken wood, lifted into the air as a crackling energy surrounded him, the same red energy that again emerged from around Amodeus' hand. "Amodeus..." Lilith begged.

"Stand aside, child." he answered sadly. "You know our laws are absolute and must be upheld without fail."

The bat bowed her head in shame then, slowly backing away. "Lil..." Sonic whispered in surprise and sadness.

Before either emotion could go much further, the hedgehog was overwhelmed by a far more powerful feeling. Pain. Burning, searing, cutting, crawling pain. Gritting his teeth, he tried to be strong then. Yet the harder he tried, the greater his suffering became. "Go," Amodeus spoke to Lilith without taking his eyes off the anguished Sonic, "We must prepare for our enemies to arrive...you know what to do."

Though it broke her heart to leave Sonic as he was, Lilith knew it was necessary. "I...I'm sorry, Blue..." she whispered sadly before flying through the gate.

Shaking and shivering in agony, Sonic heard the words, and wished he could let the bat know he understood. Yet his attempts to speak as she flew away were met with failure. "As for you..." Amodeus hissed once the bat was gone, "Your punishment can now begin in earnest!"

The shaman's open hand clamped into a fist, and it was as if it was closing in on Sonic himself, crushing and breaking every inch of his body and soul. Unable to hold it in any longer, the hedgehog released a terrible, agonized scream as he felt the entirety of his being break and crumble into nothingness. As all thought and feeling left him, a final, desperate wish for the strength to fight back crept into Sonic's mind, and the hedgehog could have sworn he felt a comforting hand on his own answering that wish. "_I believe in you, Sonic..."_ a voice...the Princess' voice...came from somewhere deep inside of him.

It was the last thing the hedgehog was aware of before his world was consumed in nothingness.

"The Arachne...You expect me to trust Uma Arachnis' children? They're just as dangerous as their mother!"

It was the response Tails expected from Geoffrey, and this time the commander did not surprise the young fox. Though they were still pursuing Sonic's signal on the tracker, the small group from Knothole had slowed the hovercraft down a notch in order to have time to contemplate the offer of the three Arachne ninjas, who still waited upon the ship's roof. "Sally trusted them with the Sword of Acorns," Tails responded to Geoffrey. "If she could trust them, so can we."

"Besides, if what they told Tails is true, the Sword's the one ordering them to help us; if we can't trust the Source of All, who _can _we trust?" Knuckles added.

Rotor, Julie-Su, and Hershey all nodded their agreement, prompting Geoffrey to massage his temples for a moment. Once he finished, he said with a sigh, "Alright, alright...we'll bring them along. However, I expect _all_ of you to keep as sharp an eye on them as you can; at the first sign of a double-cross, we take them out. Understood?"

Another wave of vigorous nods came from the team. "Good," Geoffrey said, turning around to face the control console again and deactivating the auto-pilot. "Tails, inform our...guests...of the decision."

"Got it." the fox answered simply, again exiting the ship through its oval window.

Rotor was unable to suppress a chuckle as the fox left. "What?" Geoffrey asked without looking back at the walrus. When no answer came, he continued, "What is so funny?"

An uncharacteristically large grin on his face, the inventor answered, "You're getting soft in your old age, Geoffrey."

"I'm not _that _old..." the skunk groaned, then turned quickly to Hershey and hastily asked, "...am I?"

The cat gave him an odd look at the question, but no answer. Instead, she faced Rotor and said, "Instead of badgering my husband, Rote, could you give me a hand with this tracker?"

Rising to his feet, the walrus moved over to the front of the ship. Its floors shaking with movement made it a bit of a task for the cumbersome Mobian, but eventually he succeeded. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"I had Sonic's signal a second ago," Hershey answered, "but just now it disappeared. Did I do something wrong?"

Taking the device into his hands, Rotor looked at it carefully for a moment. "No..." he spoke as he looked at the tracker's back, "it doesn't appear damaged, and the battery should still be good."

"Then what happened?"

"If I had to guess, I would say Sonic's ring aura receded somehow, which is to say it became so faint the tracker can no longer detect it. But..." Rotor stopped himself then, a small grunt signaling the end of his sentence.

"But...?" Hershey prompted him to continue.

Scratching the back of his head nervously, the walrus answered, "Well, there's really only two ways I know of for that to happen to Sonic's aura." One more pause later to take a deep breath, he finished, "Either he's unconscious...or he's dead."

"He is _not _dead." Knuckles blurted out emphatically.

Julie-Su placed a comforting hand on the red echidna's shoulder. "That's the spirit, Knux..." she said with equal measures of pride and embarrassment.

"We'll maintain course for where his signal last was before we lost it," Geoffrey said, "and assume he is still alive. With any luck, that'll take us where we need to go."

Meanwhile, Tails had reached the roof, only to find the three spiders huddled together as if discussing something. "Hey, guys!" the fox spoke up as loudly as he could, flying alongside the ship.

The ninjas dispersed and looked at Tails. "Forgive us, Chosen One." they all spoke at once, again bowing to the young boy.

It still felt strange for Tails to hear them address him by that title, to speak to him with such deep-seated respect. Not that the fox did not appreciate it; there were times he wished his _friends _would treat him like that. Here, however...it just felt like a burden. "Y'know," he said kindly, "you could just call me Tails. Or even Miles. Just...don't call me _that_, OK?"

With another bow, the three gave a united answer again. "As you wish...Miles."

At first, Tails was surprised at their obedience. It did not take long, however, for the fox to gain a grin worthy of his species. There was now a deep-seated temptation to give the ninjas a string of ridiculous orders, just to see if they would follow them. However, Tails still remembered the stakes of their mission, and quickly buried his excitement at having his own personal ninja troop for later. "What were you talking about?" he asked.

"Planning."

"The enemy will soon learn of what we have done."

"Once that happens, we must be prepared for a very difficult battle."

Tails was still not quite used to the successive manner in which the Arachne spoke. Regardless, he asked, "And what _did _you do, exactly?"

"Our brothers took some of the Blue One's blood."

"They are following us to deliver it to you and your friends."

"You can use it to enter the temple where the Child of the Source is being held."

Tails was wary of their words; they had not told him HOW they'd gotten Sonic's blood, or how much of it they had. Indeed, he was rather uncomfortable at the thought of having to use it as some sort of key. How was _that _going to work? "_I probably don't want to know..."_ he answered himself.

The Arachne recognized the discomfort on his face, placing their hands together as if in prayer. "Forgive us, Miles." they said. "We did not wish to upset you."

"It's fine, really!" Tails assured with a silly smile to drive his point home.

"We thank you for your mercy." the Arachne said with another bow.

The fox couldn't help but roll his eyes at the formality. "Anyway," he said, "I just wanted to let you three know Geoffrey says it's OK for you to travel with us."

"We thank you for your kindness." _Another _bow.

"_Maybe having my own troop of ninjas _isn't _such a cool thing..."_ Tails thought, but spoke instead, "You're welcome. Feel free to join us inside if you want to."

The Arachne made no move to follow when the fox returned to the window to re-enter the hovercraft, leaving him to assume they would prefer to stay outside. As the sky began to darken with growing storm clouds, the fox guessed that preference would not last long. The longer he looked at those clouds, the more Tails felt a chill run up his spine. Opening the window, he silently hoped they were not as sinister an omen as they appeared to be.

Sally's breath was ragged and forced. Sweat drenched her fur. Daxis had subjected her to vision after vision. Some were memories she wished she did not have, some were truths taken and twisted in the cruellest of ways. Others were wholesale illusions. All of them, however, served one purpose: to make the princess experience the greatest depths of her love, hate, fear, pride...all the emotions Sally always took such care to keep in check. "**You are very amusing, Child..."** Sally felt the words creep through her. "**To think such simple tricks could elicit such powerful emotions...your kind is even more lost than I believed if **_**this **_**is your state of being."**

Looking once more into the princess' mind, Daxis felt a great satisfaction when he found it lacked the fire it had possessed when he had started. Dim, dull, and tired, Sally's mind could barely focus enough to begin to think. It was the dark deity's first conquest, and he reveled in the feeling of it. It was his triumph, and he looked forward to many more like it. "**Soon...soon this fate shall greet all who defile this wondrous world..." **

The thought filled Daxis' spirit with a wicked delight as he imagined it. Mobians, Overlanders...all would quiver in his presence. For now, however, he could settle for this. Sally, for her part, could only stare blankly into the endless void that still rested above her. Light. Dark. Light. Dark. It just kept changing with a hypnotic rhythm, further dulling her senses. "_Perhaps..."_ some deep, instinctual part of the squirrel thought, "_Perhaps...if this is the end...that is acceptable..."_

To be part of that rhythm...to never again worry about the burden of leading a kingdom, fighting a war...of feeling...perhaps being freed of all that would not be such a terrible thing. "**Yes, Child...I see you've begun to understand..."** Daxis gloated as the thought entered his perception.

Sally's breath grew more even as she felt an eerie calm slowly close in on her heart. Eye lids heavy, exhaustion overwhelming, the squirrel found herself comfortably falling into a deep sleep, something she had not had in _so _long. A small part of her still tried to hold on desperately to the waking world, but found itself pushed further and further into the recesses of Sally's mind. It tried to think of something, _anything_, to keep the Princess awake as she felt herself slipping away. That was when it came to her: a memory from a time so long ago, she had almost forgotten it had ever happened.

_A beautiful day...fields of blooming flowers...she was only a child then, picking flowers idly. Looking around, the young squirrel sighed in contentment. If she could stay like this forever, she would be happy. That soon became impossible, however, when to her surprise she found herself pushed into the ground. "You're it!" a young boy's voice called out to her from the distance._

"_SONIC MAURICE HEDGEHOG!!!" Sally cried out in frustration, knowing how much the speedster detested people using his full name. "I TOLD YOU ALREADY I DON'T WANNA PLAY TAG TODAY!!!"_

_Though Sonic was nowhere to be seen, Sally knew he was close enough to hear her. If he was set on playing tag, he would give Sally a chance by not speeding away. He always did. Sure enough, the hedgehog rose out of his hiding spot among the flowers with a sheepish sigh. "Did you really?" he asked timidly._

_Folding her arms sternly, she answered, "Yes I did. I told you back at the castle, I wanted to pick flowers for Dad today."_

_With a guilty chuckle, Sonic responded, "Oh...I kinda stopped paying attention when you told me you were going to the field, so I sorta figured that was just where you wanted to play..."_

"_Sonic, you...you're nothing more than a big fat hippo-crit!" the squirrel blurted out angrily, leaving the hedgehog with a bewildered look on his face; Sally always enjoyed using the words she picked up from her father's royal meetings to stupify Sonic. _

_Scratching his head in thought, Sonic mumbled, "Hip...hippo...hippo-crit..." He paused for a minute. Then, snapping his fingers, he cried out excitedly, "Oh! That means I'm really hip, right?"_

_Sally had to resist the urge to slap herself in the face. She didn't know what the word meant either, but she knew it didn't mean _that_! Still, the longer she thought about it, the less angry she was with the hedgehog, and decided to let him have his moment. "Yes, Sonic," she laughed, "that's _exactly _what it means."_

_Sonic immediately proceeded to do a dance, bouncing up and down joyfully. "Oh yeah!" he boasted enthusiastically to the tune of a song that existed only in his mind, "I'm hip! I'm awesome! I'm so hot I'm cool! Oh yeah!"_

_In spite of herself, the squirrel laughed. As much of a pest as the boy could be, Sonic could always make her feel happy in a way no one else could. Sonic's dance grew more and more absurd, with the hedgehog leaping around on his hands, and Sally could only laugh harder, so much so she fell to the ground, arms wrapped around her sides. "Sal?" Sonic noticed her fall, still standing on one hand with his feet split in the air. "You OK?"_

_When the only answer the hedgehog received was more laughter, he tip-toed over to where Sally had fallen. Seeing her laughing on the ground, Sonic grinned; if Sally was happy, he was happy. "C'mon, Sal," he offered the giggling young girl his hand, "I think I can help you pick all those flowers in no time flat, but you gotta get up."_

"_Get up."_

"Get up."

The remembered request soon became Sally's own spoken words. Slowly, the fog clouding her thoughts began to recede, though pushing it back was hard. Shaking it off as best she could, Sally focused on the memory as hard as she could. It was her anchor, a reminder of happier times to push her on to a future she would strive to make just as bright. "**A sweet sentiment, Child, but one you will never be able to realize,"** Daxis rumbled. "**Still, perhaps the future I intend to make can comfort you."**

A horrid vision of Knothole in ruins, corpses strewn across the ground, fire and blood covering the land, forced itself upon Sally's thoughts. Tails...her parents...all her friends...Sonic...all dead, all staring at her with empty eyes. It chilled her, but to her surprise, Sally could tell it was not real. Every other time Daxis had created such horrible illusions, he had been able to make Sally believe it to be her current reality, yet somehow...somehow this was different. The scent of the flowers she had fallen into as a child were still fresh in her senses, a glint of the gorgeous sunlit sky shining upon the horror she now beheld. "_Get up..."_ the voice of the past spoke again.

Even as she stared into the face of her worst nightmare, Sally knew she had to heed those words. Though aware of its futility, Sally resumed her struggle to break free of the altar in which she was still embedded. The illusion began to fade, and slowly but surely Sally felt it happening. Her arms were rising, not through hard stone, but through water. "**No..."** Daxis hissed. "**It's not possible!!!"**

With one final burst, Sally fell to the floor. The altar that had been her prison melted away, receding into the walls from which it had come. "I'm..." the squirrel gasped, lying on the floor tired and more than a bit surprised. "I'm free..."

What had just happened was still sinking into her mind, but Sally had no time to waste. She had to get out of that place, as soon as possible, and she had to find Sonic and she had to...

"**You're not going to do **_**anything!!!"**_the roar of Daxis' command shook the room.

Rising unsteadily to her feet, leaning on the wall for support, the princess looked up at the glowing void, then down at her feet. The skull Amodeus had placed on her at the beginning of the ritual stared up at her, a reminder of the being Sally might still summon if she did not act. "Yes," came her answer to Daxis' scream, "I am. I'm going to stop _you_."

Praying that she knew what she was doing, Sally placed her hand upon the wall and focused. "_This is not a wall," _she thought, "_this is water. This is something I can walk through..."_

And with that, she felt herself begin to melt into the bone that formed the surface.

**To Be Continued...**


	7. The Storm

Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Author's Note: Finally found a paragraph border I think will accept. Hopefully it'll work and I can go back and edit it into the other chapters to help their flow.

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Seven: The Storm

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

"We're here."

Geoffrey's words brought everyone to attention. Though Sonic's signal still had not re-appeared on the tracker, the small group had managed to make their way to the hedgehog's last known position. Rain slowly began to fall upon the hovercraft as it landed, the skies now pitch black with storm clouds. "Touching down in the middle of a rainstorm..." Knuckles groaned over the hiss of the opening door, "that's generally considered a _good _sign, right?"

His sarcasm did not go unnoticed as everyone rose and moved to the exit. "Keep your cool, Knux. We're not gonna let a little rain stop us, right?" Julie-Su comforted even as her hand instinctively lowered to the holster of her laser rifle.

One by one, the group walked out onto the grassy plains where they had landed. No sooner had the last of the group set foot on ground did three more figures join them there, leaping off the hovercraft roof. With grace and speed, the Arachne assumed crouched positions at the head of the team. "Hey guys!" Tails greeted the three spiders.

"Greetings, Miles." they answered as one.

"So," Geoffrey walked up to the trio as he posed his question, "we're looking for some sort of temple, right?" When they all nodded at once, the skunk mentally noted his annoyance at their synchronized behavior before pressing on ahead. "Then let's get going. We should be right on top of where Sonic was last, so with luck he'll lead us right to where we're going."

"We are near."

"We can feel his dark presence."

"We must hurry."

With those words, the three ninjas seemed to vanish as they leapt into the air, each bounding off in a separate direction, leaving an exasperated Geoffrey standing in front of where they had once been. "Well," he groaned, resting his forehead in his hand, "so much for keeping an eye on them..."

"Forget them," Knuckles said. "We'll look for Sonic on our own!" Pounding his fists together to emphasize his point, the guardian than dashed off through the grassy fields. "Well, are you guys coming or what?" he shouted back at his comrades after getting a good distance ahead of them.

Rotor, Hershey, and Tails heeded the call, each moving on ahead to join the red echidna. After a bit of hesitation, Geoffrey soon followed as well. Julie-Su, however, was less sure. As much as she wanted to be happy to see that old spark in her soul-mate again, a spark that had been absent for the past year, it worried her as well. Even as she pushed such concerns aside to join up with the group, she whispered to herself, "Don't do anything stupid, Knux..."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Amodeus had felt anger before, but never in his hundred years of life had it ever felt this intense. A potent tinge of fear and panic to it, the shaman's rage threatened to overwhelm him, but he knew how to keep such feelings in check. Looking down at the limp form of the blue hedgehog who was the source of his current anger made that a more difficult thing to do than it would have been normally, however. Flat on the cold, dank floor of the temple's lower-most sanctum, a desolate, wet cave where the only light was the faint glow of a lone torch that flickered close to non-existence, Sonic looked close to death. Indeed, Amodeus knew there was a good chance he might very well stop being _close _to death after the severe punishment he had received. _"So be it,"_ he mused. _"To make a mistake such as his is to invite death upon yourself."_

**"AMODEUS!!!"**

The shriek of his master's voice rang in his mind like an explosion, causing Amodeus to gasp in pain and clutch his head to make the throbbing stop. "What...what is it, My Lord...?" he panted, down on his knees.

**"SHE'S ESCAPED!!! THE CHILD OF THE SOURCE HAS ESCAPED!!!"**

A pained choking sound escaped Amodeus' throat as the forceful thought battered his mind again, a small trickle of blood slowly crawling down from his nose. "That...that's not possible, Master..." the shaman wheezed, only to be further assaulted as Daxis roared back, **"DO NOT QUESTION ME, SHAMAN!!! FIND HER, AND BRING HER TO ME!!! NOW!!!"**

The Walker's rage was like a thousand hammers slamming down on the frail old goat at once, but Amodeus knew he could not delay in locating the Child, or else it would only get worse. "As...as you wish, My Lord..." he managed to cough out, slowly rising to his feet with the support of his staff. "E..Enpo...Os We A..Aym Ssap..." the words struggled to escape his mouth, but once they had, Amodeus placed his hand upon the nearest wall of the cave and slowly passed through it as if it were liquid. When his journey ended, Amodeus emerged not on the other side of the wall, but instead the main hall of the temple. Once his body had fully emerged onto the floor, the goat began desperately attempting to conceive a plan to find his target. _"There is only one way the Child could have escaped,"_ he thought in frustration, _"and that is if she somehow realized the bond she shares with Daxis gives her the same power we of the Order possess to move through the Temple...she could be anywhere by now, even back outside, if she has fully grasped that power."_

Fortunately, the goat knew that was a big enough "if" that there was a very good chance she was still inside the temple. The question was where, and Amodeus did not know how to obtain the answer. The temple had so many floors and rooms, and any one could be accessed from the other. _"In short,"_ he contemplated, _"she could be anywhere. That means the best way to look for her..."_ Closing his one good eye in concentration, the goat held his staff out in front of him. _"...is not to _look _for her at all..."_

The sinister red glow that always accompanied the strong invocation of Daxis' dark powers began to emanate from the staff, slowly wrapping around Amodeus like a serpent closing in on its prey. Amodeus was hesitant to use this power, for he knew it would drain him to the point where he would be unable to defend himself. This along with the knowledge that the Order's enemies now had free access to the temple gave the shaman pause, but ultimately he knew it was for the best. This was the most effective way to find the Child of the Source, and time was of the absolute essence. Doing his best to take comfort in the knowledge that Lilith was even then at work preparing the temple's defenses and that, if he _should _die, it was all for the good of the great Daxis, the aged goat whispered slowly, "D'nahs...Hecar Tou D'na Kese..."

Slowly, the shaman floated off the ground until he was half-way to the very roof of the chamber. From here, Amodeus knew the spell would be its most effective. It was the last thought he had before the red glow that had wrapped itself around him exploded forth, now taking the shape of thousands of ethereal "arms" that moved across the chamber as if controlled by some demonic beast possessed with a horrid bloodlust. Wherever a single arm crossed, Amodeus, eyes still closed, instantly "saw" everything it touched. As the arms began to expand, moving through the chamber's walls in every direction, the goat's mind was flooded with sights and sounds that came with such speed and intensity that a normal creature would have been overwhelmed; Amodeus, however, had used this power enough times to have steeled himself properly, and so he picked through the flood of images to find what he sought. _"The Child..."_ he mentally commanded. _"Find the Child of the Source..."_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The outer hall of the temple of Daxis would not seem to be an important place, being a drab stone hallway, its age shown by the vines and moss that grew out of every corner, as well as the fallen pillars that littered its path. To Lilith, however, it was a place of deep significance. It was the first part of the sanctum she had ever seen, it was where Sonic's transformation into a member of the Order had begun, and now, it was where the defense of her life-long home would begin. As guilty as she felt for leaving Sonic to Amodeus' most-likely non-existent mercy, Lilith knew that a choice between the hedgehog or the safety of the Order was not a choice at all. At the end of the day, all of them-Lilith, Sonic, even Amodeus himself-were expendable if it meant preserving the Order and its mission. That was what the bat told herself as she nipped her thumb along one of her fangs, drawing blood with which she hastily drew a strange symbol upon the wall, a single short line from which a curved line emerged on either side of its top. "With this blood, which I have promised to our Order and our Lord..." she spoke. "Nummos Het Daboro!"

With those words, a frightening black mist began to seep out of the wall where the symbol had dried. "Come forth, Daboro, Children of Silence! The Order of Daxis invokes your aid!" Lilith commanded the smoke dramatically, more for her own comfort than anything else. The bat had used many dark powers before, but tapping into the volatile Zone of Silence was a risk even for her.

The smoke seemed to obey, though Lilith knew it was only a coincidence, whirling around and creating small charcoal twisters across the hallway. When the smoke dissipated, a horde of grey lizards stood in its place. The creatures came in various shapes and sizes, but all bore shared traits: grey, scaly skin, ridged backs, bird-like snouts, razor fangs and claws, small horns on the back of their heads, and blood-red eyes. At first, the whole horde seemed confused, but realization quickly dawned upon them. One, a particularly tall and muscular one, approached Lilith after a moment and spoke in a gravelly hiss, "Why have you summoned us here?"

Lilith was unfazed despite the beast's face being mere inches from her own, the force of its voice enough to create a small wind that ruffled her fur. Immediately, she responded, "You are the Daboro, are you not?" When the creature nodded its approval, Lilith resumed, "Then you must know that thousands of years ago, when the Order of Daxis was first formed, our leader traveled into the Zone of Silence, your home, and made a deal with your master Feist: in exchange for your servitude, when Lord Daxis is freed, you and your kind would be allowed free travel from the Zone of Silence into this world."

The Daboro snorted derisively. "An old fairy tale," he chided, "told to give our kind false hope for the future."

"Yet here you are." Lilith spoke firmly. "I have summoned you here because the Order needs your help: we are on the cusp of victory, but we fear our enemies plan to attack us. During the Ritual's completion, we will need you to protect our Temple from outside forces."

Rolling its claws across the floor in thought, the Daboro slitted its eyes menacingly at the bat. Turning away from her then, it issued a series of growls and roars. When the other Daboro responded with similar noises, Lilith could only assume this was their native form of communication. The Daboro to whom she had been speaking, presumably the leader, faced Lilith again. "Very well," he said, "we will follow you...but you would be wise not to anger us."

It was a warning Lilith knew to heed: the Daboro could return to the Zone of Silence at any time they wished, as was part of their pact, and so the temple would be stripped of a vital line of defense. Though not particularly strategic in battle, the Daboro were strong enough to pose a threat, and their sheer numbers could often compensate for their lack of cunning. "Since we're all agreed," Lilith spoke up after taking in the leader's answer, "you will remain in here. Anyone wishing to enter or exit the temple must pass through here first. If you see anyone other than myself, an elderly goat, or a blue hedgehog come through here, kill them on sight. Understood?"

The Daboro all nodded at once. "Good. Then I have business of my own to attend to."

With that, Lilith dashed off at incredible speed. _"Hang on, Blue...I'm coming..."_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_"I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog..."_

_The words echoed across a pitch black sky, under which a very bewildered blue hedgehog stood upon a blank, white landscape that stretched on as far as he could see. It was _her _voice that spoke to him, Sonic knew, and it infuriated him to no end that there was such a sense of intimacy in its tone. They had only met a day ago, when he had snuck into Knothole to make her his prisoner, so how did she know his name? Why would she ever speak to him in such a voice? Questions numbering in the thousands had become associated with _her _in the hedgehog's mind, and it was driving him insane. "Who are you?" he screamed back into the emptiness, unsure if he even expected an answer, "Who are you to me?"_

_"No one..." came the dark sky's echo of an answer, only this time it was not the Child of the Source that spoke. It was Lilith. "She's no one..."_

_"But that's not true!" Sonic responded, surprising himself. _

_Still Lilith's voice continued as if he had not spoken at all, "...and there's no need to worry about no one, now is there?"_

_Suddenly the defiance with which he had answered before left Sonic, to his confusion. The words suddenly seemed to make an eerie sort of sense...maybe it _was _better to just leave it be; if the Child of the Source was not "no one" then, he could _make _her no one by shutting her out. "Yeah..." Sonic said then, confusion slowly giving way to acceptance. "No one..." Slowly, his gaze began to turn downward..._

_"Sometimes, I think I'd go crazy if you weren't here..."_

_...only to snap right back up as the Princess' voice spoke. _

Yet it was no longer an empty sky he looked up to see, though it seemed that way at first. Once his eyes had been given a chance to adjust, Sonic slowly came to see a brief glint of light that had not been there before, barely illuminating the rocky wall of a cave. His whole body felt like lead, unresponsive and heavy. Remembering the torturous punishment Amodeus had administered upon him, Sonic quickly understood why. _"The old man really did a number on me..." _he bemoaned in his mind, finding it a struggle just to squirm around on the floor.

Though it was a mind-numbingly painful effort to do so, the hedgehog ultimately forced himself to stand. Immediately leaning against the cave wall lest he promptly fall over, Sonic now found himself with time to do something he normally avoided at all costs: think about what to do next. The shame he felt for endangering the Order told him to simply stay and wait until Amodeus came to free him. However, Sonic now also found himself agonized over the fate of the Princess: how did she know about him? With the Blood Pact initialized, the hedgehog knew the chance to learn the answer to that question was slipping away with each second that passed. The hedgehog racked his brain for a solution that would satisfy both imperatives, but none came, leaving Sonic to stand there in thought, slowly recuperating. Before too long, however, an event occurred to clear his confusion. Tendrils of crimson energy swept through the cave, sliding across every stone as if in search. "Well, well..." Sonic chuckled, recognizing Amodeus' spell. "Only one reason I can think of he'd use a spell like that..."

Realizing the implication of the energy even as it receded out of the room, passing over him along the way, Sonic at last arrived at the answer he was looking for. In his current condition, Sonic knew attempting to execute this half-cocked plan were slim to none. _"Still, when's that ever stopped me before?"_

The ache that tormented his body having cooled to the point of being bearable, the hedgehog spoke the words of the Order's ancient language to merge into the cave wall. _"I can find the Princess, get her to tell me what I want to know and even insure our enemy won't do a thing to harm us all at once,"_ his mind had schemed. _"After all, if those spiders _are _working for the Source of All, they'd never do anything to endanger its Child..."_

Still, even as headstrong as he was, Sonic knew that finding the Princess would be no easy task. Or rather, it would not have been if she had not been the first thing he saw when he emerged from his journey.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

When Sally had escaped the altar, she quickly came to understand why she had done so, for only one reason could explain it: whatever power Amodeus and his followers had in this place, some of it rested inside her as well through the bond she shared with Daxis. When the squirrel had approached the wall of the sanctuary in hopes of escape, she also came to realize she could not remember the words Lilith had spoken when they had traveled through the prison cell where all this insanity had started. Worse still, she could not even conceive as to how the Order controlled their ability, and so the princess had been forced to trust to luck. She had to hope that force of will, not words or gestures, controlled the power, and that somehow she would find a way to choose her destination. On that first count, she had been correct.

To Sally's distress, however, the experience of traveling through the temple bore no resemblance to what she had expected. Rather than a simple step forward, it had been like walking into the midst of a monstrous current, sweeping along any who were unprepared for it. Lilith's guidance had kept her safe before, but now that Sally was on her own, she had no such protection, and had been caught completely off guard. The squirrel's mind was too gripped with fear to try and guess how long she was trapped in that strange place, but however long it had been, eventually the journey ended. The squirrel had been violently thrust out of the current, landing face first in a new location, a part of the temple she had not yet seen. It was here, in a narrow hallway illuminated not by torch lights but the glowing crystals that formed its walls, that Sally found herself now. Disoriented but still determined, the princess slowly rose to her feet and attempted to collect herself. "One thing is for sure," she muttered out loud, "I do _not _plan to do _that _again any time soon."

Walking through the hall on unsure feet, Sally gritted herself. Though she had no idea where she was going, the squirrel had every intent on getting out of the place now that the chance was available. _"But I don't plan to leave alone..."_ she thought.

As if on cue, it was that moment that Sally saw the very person she had been thinking of emerge from the crystalline wall to her left. "Sonic..." she uttered in surprise; of all the things she had been expecting to happen next, running into the hedgehog so soon was not one of them.

It took a moment for the sight of the young squirrel to register in his mind, but once it did, Sonic's reaction was similar. "Well, well..." he laughed, "_this _is a pleasant surprise."

Looking the hedgehog over, Sally immediately saw his haggard stance and heaving breath; he was in no condition to fight, though the tone of his voice suggested he was preparing to. _"As usual..."_ she thought to herself, a brief image of the Sonic she knew flickering across her mind with his usual cocky grin.

"I wouldn't suggest fighting me right now," Sally said with false confidence; she was not exactly in fighting shape herself. "The narrow space gives me the advantage; you won't be able to rush me like you did before." Though the princess contemplated advising Sonic about his injuries, she knew the hedgehog well enough to know such words would only incite him further rather than give him reason to back down. As it was, she knew her warning would most likely be taken as a challenge, but she had to say _something _to try and dissuade Sonic from battle, and it was all she could think of.

Sure enough, the hedgehog simply laughed again and cracked his knuckles. "Princess," he said, his lips curling into the same animalistic grin he had held in their last battle, "_that _sounds like an invitation to me!"

There was less than a second between the end of the sentence and the first throw of Sonic's fist. Dodging out of the way with an exasperated groan, Sally quickly closed the gap between them, laying a series of well-placed punches into Sonic's exposed stomach. Just as she had warned, the lack of space gave Sally a clear-cut advantage over Sonic: his close range combat skills, while serviceable, were heavily reliant on his ability to utilize a speedy retreat so that he could come back again from a different angle. No such option existed in the hallway's narrow confines, and so the hedgehog was forced to take Sally's attack full-on. Knocking Sonic unconscious her goal, Sally followed up with a harsh uppercut, knocking Sonic clear off his feet and right into the crystal wall from which he had emerged. Beginning to slump to the ground, the hedgehog pressed his hands to the wall to keep himself on his feet. "You hit like a girl..." he coughed sarcastically, though his fatigue was evident.

"You take your punches like a baby," Sally retorted, instinctively inserting a playful tone to her voice without meaning to.

It did not go unnoticed by Sonic, who gave a dark laugh as he raised his fists again, preparing for another strike. "Talking to me like that...like we're old friends or something..." he said, locking his intense gaze directly upon Sally's eyes. "Calling me by name...why do you do that?"

Sally wanted to answer, even though she feared it would do little good; in this state, it seemed unlikely Sonic would believe her. Still the squirrel could see from his eyes the hedgehog wanted answers, and was willing to fight her to get them. What harm could it do to try? "Sonic..." she started, prompting a snarl from the frustrated speedster. "Have you really forgotten?"

The speedster was stoic, his only response a tightening of his stance. "Please," he growled, "elaborate."

"These people...they've done something to you, altered your memories somehow..." Sally said, doing her best to control the whirlpool of emotions building up inside of her. "You aren't a part of this Order. You're a Freedom Fighter from Knothole Village, one of the best there is, and you...you're my..."

Sally had to pause at that. The end of her answer was not as clear to her as it should have been, and the memory of the rift that had begun to form between her and Sonic before all this insanity had started reared its ugly head in her heart. For a moment, the princess was silent. It was a conflict that had been hard enough to contemplate before; in the midst of her escape, it was even more upsetting. Pushing the feelings of melancholy that threatened to overtake her to the back of her mind, Sally finished with a slight quiver, "...you're my friend. My best friend." The last part had been tacked on to placate the unease Sally felt in the pit of her heart.

The squirrel did not know what to expect from Sonic in response. His powerful stare had broken, and he had placed his hands back down to his sides. Sally could see the gears turning in the hedgehog's mind as he contemplated the information he had just been given. When that train of thought at last reached its conclusion, it showed bright as day on Sonic's face, leaving Sally in anxious anticipation over what he would do next. A brief burst of hope arose in her when the hedgehog smiled, only to be crushed when Sonic burst out in derisive laughter. "HA HA HA...Oh, oh man...oh man, that's just...that's too rich!!!" he chortled, fighting to breathe while wiping a tear from his eye. "You...you had me going with that 'brainwashing' stuff, but...hoo hoo...'best friends'...with _you_?" Hand clutched to his sides, the hedgehog seemed to have completely forgotten everything around him but his own amusement. "Never! Not in a _million _years!!! Oh...oh, I think I'm gonna throw up! Hee hee HA HA HA!!!"

_"He's not himself."_ That was the rationalization Sally offered herself to soften the blow of the cruel laughter that echoed in her ears. _"Sonic would never say such things if he were in his right mind..."_

Welling up the strength to speak aloud, she placed both hands on his shoulders, causing the hedgehog to stop laughing but doing nothing to wipe the amused grin he now held on his face. "Is it _that _hard to believe?" she asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

"That I could _ever _feel anything for a controlling, vindictive ball-and-chain like you besides disgust?" Sonic retorted, a barely repressed second wave of giggling threatening to overwhelm him. "Yeah, Princess. Yeah it is."

_"He's not himself,"_ Sally tried to assure herself again. Yet the harder she tried to believe it, the more phony it felt. His voice...for the first time since the change in Sonic had occurred, it sounded like his own again. All traces of the implacable darkness that had poisoned it up until now were gone, and though the princess tried to convince herself it was not so, it felt like his words were those of the Sonic she knew. Backing away from him, Sally felt tears well up in her eyes. "Aw..." Sonic chided, "did I hurt your pwetty widdle feewings?" Before Sally could answer, the hedgehog had placed a fist straight into her gut, taking advantage of her momentary distraction. "And to think, I was worried you might actually have had something _interesting _to tell me..." he sighed as if bored.

Doubling over from the blow, Sally crumpled to the ground, short on breath and arms wrapped around her stomach. Kneeling over the fallen princess, Sonic's grin finally faded. Seeing her like that...so vulnerable...it almost made him want to apologize for his charade. In truth, the squirrel's words had affected him more than he dared to admit. Sonic knew it was fully in the Order's capability to do something like what the princess had spoken of. More importantly, her voice...there had been a sincerity in it deeper than any other Sonic could remember, even more than when Lilith had told him how much she cared for him when they were younger. _"But it's not true,"_ he had told himself. _"It couldn't _possibly _be true."_

So he had done the only thing he could think to do: he had laughed. When the opportunity presented itself, he had attacked. Now he had his answers, and his hostage as well. _"Everything's fine,"_ he assured himself. _"She's lying. Trying to trick you. That's what she's been doing the whole time. That's the only explanation that makes sense."_

The princess' own explanation made sense as well, but Sonic knew it could not _possibly _have been true. He could _never _care for someone like her, could he? _"Yet here I am,"_ his mind groused, _"worrying about her safety when I _should _be dragging her back to the sanctuary."_

Slowly, the hedgehog's hand descended to the scruff of her neck. However, before it could reach its destination, his arm was grabbed. The princess was still awake! "A squirrel playing possum, huh?" he grunted, trying to free his arm from the grip that held it. "That's a new one!"

Sally did not say anything. She simply pulled the hedgehog down, sending a fist into his oncoming face. Once Sonic had tumbled away from her, she rose to her feet. Looking up at her, Sonic saw a frightening emptiness in her eyes. It glared down at him as Sally looked him over. The tips of her fur held a familiar but faint red glow to them, confusing the hedgehog greatly. _"How...how can _she _use that kind of power?"_

The red quickly faded, and the emptiness in Sally's eyes was replaced by a heartbreaking grief. For a moment, neither one moved. Despite his own tumultuous feelings, Sonic gritted his teeth and tried to rise again, only to slip and fall. Looking at him sadly, Sally's tears slowly came down the sides of her face. "Goodbye..." she whispered.

Without another word, the young girl ran off, leaving Sonic alone with his own confusions to deal with. "Goodbye..." he muttered weakly as he watched her disappear into the seemingly endless hallway.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The rain was coming down harder and harder as the Freedom Fighters continued their trek across the field, Knuckles in the lead screaming his lungs out to overcome the noise of the thunder that had started booming not too long ago. "Sonic!!!" he roared, "Show your face, ya big blue coward!!!"

Tails flew in frustrated circles above the group. Fearful of the ever-worsening storm, Geoffrey had ordered him to stay close, forbidding him to leave his sight. Though the fox believed he would be a better asset if he could take a bird's eye's view of the field, Geoffrey had been insistent, and Tails ultimately did not wish to abuse the skunk's good will to even have him there in the first place. Still, the longer the team went with no sign of Sonic, Sally, or even the Arachne who had broken off from them at the beginning of the search, the more difficult it became for the boy to stay in place. Time, as the Arachne had told him, was of the essence; if the two-tailed youngster wanted to see his family return safely, he knew he had to find them soon. When an excited yelp came from below, both Tails and Knuckles stopped what they were doing and rejoined the group.

"What is it?" they asked in unison, both extremely excited.

"It's Sonic!" Rotor exclaimed with equal exuberance. "His signal's back on the radar!"

Knuckles pushed past the others until he was face to face with the walrus, leaving Julie-Su feeling her worry creep up a notch. "Where is he?" the guardian asked.

A little nervous at the echidna's proximity, Rotor pointed westward. "This way," he said.

"Let's move, people!" Geoffrey ordered, taking the lead.

Eventually, the group came upon a domed building, small and covered in vines. Ducking into it for shelter from the storm, the group found themselves in a simple little room, a single painting of Mobius the only thing adorning any of its walls. "Where to now, Rotor?" Hershey asked, shaking the water out of her fur.

Even as Geoffrey's ears flattened in slight embarrassment at his wife, Rotor looked at his tracker in complete confusion. "Nowhere..." he said. "According to the tracker, _this _is where Sonic is."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Knuckles shouted in frustration. "We're here, and he obviously _isn't!_" With an exasperated shout, Knuckles pounded his fist into the nearest wall.

Approaching him nervously, Julie-Su spoke to him, "Are you OK, Knux? You've been really tense since we took off from Knothole..."

Though he appreciated her concern, Knuckles' anger tainted his answer. "I'm _fine._ Just gotta find that little blue pest is all..." he growled.

"We can help with that." Three familiar voices came at once.

At the entrance to the building, the Arachne stood in the same crouch with which they had departed earlier. "And where have _you _been?" Geoffrey asked sternly.

"Two of us explored the other sides of the field."

"One of us stayed with you to track your movements."

"When you found the hedgehog, we reunited to come help."

Confused at the way the spiders did not specify which of them had performed which task, Geoffrey waved it off and said, "Help us how?"

The middle ninja showed his bloody kunai. "We hold the blood of the Order," they spoke at once. "It is the key to entrance into the temple on which we now stand."

_"This _is the temple?" Julie-Su asked, deciding to give Knuckles his space for the time being. "Talk about your fixer-uppers..."

"Please...link hands." the three spiders instructed.

When the Arachne did just that, the others followed suit. All were slightly unsure what the point was, but knew it was at least worth a try. The Arachne then linked one of their hands to Tails', who stood at the outside of the group. The middle spider then placed the tip of the kunai upon the painting of Mobius. "Enpo Os We Aym Ssap!" the three ninjas spoke at once.

One by one, to the Freedom Fighters' surprise, the spiders seemed to melt into the painting. Tails followed, and soon the whole group had entered where it was seemingly impossible to do so. When they emerged on the other side, they found themselves in an ancient torch-lit corridor. "Ohhh..." Julie-Su exclaimed as she tried to shake off the vertigo she felt after her strange trip. "So _this _is the temple."

The others were similarly disoriented, though the Arachne seemed fine. It was quickly shocked out of their systems, however, when an angry growl echoed across the hall. "Who goes there?" it spoke.

Soon enough, a frightening grey monster had approached them from out of the darkness that lay ahead. "Ah," it spoke in understanding once its crimson eyes settled on the group. "Fresh meat!!!" the beast shouted behind it.

Thousands of grunts and snarls responded, slowly approaching from the depths of the corridor.

"Well...crap..." Geoffrey muttered as he locked an arrow into his trusty crossbow.

**To Be Continued...**


	8. A Beautiful Illusion

1of colorSonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Author's Note: This chapter was an absolute _monstrosity _to write. I ended up doing, like, a million different versions of each and every scene. As well, writer's block and computer problems compounded things. All in all, this has been the hardest chapter to write since chapter 3, and I apologize profusely for its tardiness. Hopefully it will be worth the wait. Thank you all for your patience, and enjoy. :)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Eight: A Beautiful Illusion

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Within the deepest, darkest part of the Great Forest, a place very few people ever went, and even fewer returned from, there was a web. Larger than any other web on the face of the planet, it stretched on for miles, its strands as thick as the tree branches they were stuck to. Through the pouring rain, dozens of Arachne scurried across the web, some coming, others going, all constantly active. At the center of their activity, the nexus point that all parts of the web stemmed from, was a sword. The complex markings that adorned its hilt identified the blade as the legendary Sword of Acorns. Mysteriously dry despite the storm that raged around it, the sword glowed with an eerie light that hinted at its true nature, for within the blade rested the power of the Source of All. It was this power to which the Arachne were now ferociously loyal, and it was this power that gave the cosmic force a voice that the ninjas could understand and that only those the Source was connected to could hear. _"To me, my warriors."_ it spoke, causing the spiders to all gather at the web's center.

_"You have served me well since my Child placed me in your care,"_ the sword said, much like a parent speaking to its young. _"Even as I speak to you, your kin march toward what is most likely their death in order to protect me. For this loyalty, I am grateful."_

Though none of the Arachne voiced it, the Source could sense the growing unease in their hearts. It was the same feeling that had dwelled within the three Arachne sent to the temple, though they had swallowed that fear to do their duty, and the Source knew their brothers and sisters ultimately would as well. _"Now, however, a decisive moment is at hand. I will need all of you in order to ensure things go right. Can I depend on this?"_

Without hesitation, all one-hundred-forty-seven spiders nodded simultaneously. _"Good."_ the Source replied proudly. _"Then listen well: split into seven teams."_

With an almost mechanical precision, the Arachne followed their orders, and before long had gathered into seven groups, though some were slightly less numerous then others. Once they had succeeded, they again heard the voice of the Source speak to them. _"Excellent. Close your eyes..."_, and once more they obeyed without hesitation, _"...and look upon where you must travel."_

To each group, a different place appeared within the blackness of their closed vision. A green and grassy plain...the blazing maw of an open volcano...a mountain top that seemed to pierce the clouds...the wave-rattled shore of a beach...the lightning-illuminated outskirts of Robotropolis...a crater that seemed to stretch on for miles...and the deep, dark depths of a cold and murky cave. _"Your minds now know where to find these places. Travel to them, and take with you a single thread of the web." _the Source continued its instructions. _"Ensure the strands are unbroken when you arrive at your destinations, for they are crucial to my plan. Once you have arrived, await my signal. Do not do anything else until then; the action I may be forced to take is one of desperation, and must be avoided if possible. You will know what I mean, and what to do, when the time comes." _Allowing its followers to absorb its instructions, the Source then asked, _"Are you ready, my warriors?"_

Another unhesitating nod. _"Then go, and hurry. I sense that my Child is weakening...we must be prepared for the worst."_

The seven teams immediately headed off in the direction of their targets, each and every one of the spiders spinning an all-but-invisible thread behind them as they went. Merging into the shadows of the forest, they seemed to vanish into thin air in seconds. With no further need to speak, the Sword of Acorns returned to being the silent center of the web. Within its steel shell, however, the Source of All wondered if the strange sensation pulsating through it was what mortals described as fear. Its form had been wounded greatly by the destruction wreaked across the planet by Eggman, its powers growing weaker as the planet from which they stemmed slowly decayed. Its once all-seeing clairvoyance was blinded, and all the knowledge of the future the Source had once possessed was gone with it. Now, the weakest it had ever been in the entirety of its eons-long existence, the Source was making a stand against the one being that could potentially destroy it once and for all. _"Do you see now, Aurora?"_ it asked the heavens above, wondering if the Goddess could hear, _"Do you see what you have done?"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Hopelessly out-numbered, fighting against enemies vastly stronger than himself, covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises, Knuckles the Echidna was hard-pressed to think of a time he had felt more...alive. After sitting on the side-lines a whole year, the guardian was overjoyed to be in the thick of combat again, even though the augmented abilities he had once possessed were no longer able to aid him. Even as he felt pain shoot through his arm as his fist collided into the stone-hard face of one of the thousands of gray-scaled beasts he and his companions now fought against, the echidna was thoroughly exhilarated to see the fruits of his labor. His arduous training, though not entirely compensation for the loss of his Chaos-enhanced strength, was proving to have been quite worthwhile as yet another beast fell to his attack. "I'm telling you guys," Knuckles grunted as he moved on to the next foe, "this is almost too easy!"

It was, of course, a joke. Of all things the chaotic clash in the halls of the temple of Daxis was, "easy" was not one of them. Even with each of the Freedom Fighters doing their best to fend off the attacking beasts, identified by the Arachne as "Daboro", it was a losing battle at best. Only the narrow size of the hall had kept the team alive, for it prevented the creatures from bringing their full numbers to bear. "Not to intrude on Knuckles' fantasy life," Julie-Su shouted as she leapt over an attacking Daboro, firing into its back with her laser rifle, "but I don't think we're going to last much longer like this!"

"She's right!" Hershey responded, forcing her way through several of the grey-scaled monsters to reach Geoffrey. "We need a new plan other than 'pray we don't get eaten' here, Geoff!"

Firing off arrows from his crossbow in a desperate flurry, the skunk nodded. In truth, he was attempting to form just such a strategy at that very moment. Retreat was not an option: the only way out was through whatever spell the Arachne had used before, and the skunk knew it would take too long to regroup, link together, and exit again before at least one of them was taken down. Similarly, any attempt to get Tails to shuttle the group across one by one would end in failure, for the hallway was too small; Tails' passengers would likely be snatched by the Daboro. Yet brute strength was only going to take the team so far; even the Arachne were showing signs of fatigue as they continued fighting off the unrelenting monsters. In short, it seemed like a no-win situation. _"I am _not _going to let my team die!"_ Geoffrey mentally resolved as doubt began to creep into his mind.

In the fire that rose in his heart to defend those he cared for, a spark was struck within Geoffrey's mind. A plan had finally been formed; a shaky one, but a plan nonetheless. "You! Kunai-boy!" the skunk shouted out, hoping to grab the attention of the specific Arachne he was hoping for.

Sure enough, one of the spiders, though Geoffrey was unsure which one, flipped over to him from the front of the fighting. "What is it?" he asked.

"Are you the one that got us in here?" Geoffrey asked, all the while still firing arrows off whenever the opportunity arose.

The ninja seemed unsure how to answer at first, but eventually nodded. _"These guys have a tenuous grasp on identity..."_ Geoffrey thought briefly, before leaning in close and whispering instructions into the Arachne's ear. "Do you understand?" he asked once he had backed away.

This time, the spider did not hesitate to nod. "Then go! GO!!!" Geoffrey barked.

As the lone ninja darted off to the back of the hallway, the others turned to watch in confusion, though none were so foolish as to forget what they were doing. _"I really hope he gets back in time..."_ Geoffrey silently prayed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Goodbye..."

That was all Sally found she could say to Sonic before turning away from him to run off. She did not know where, nor did she really know what she intended to do once she got to wherever she was going, but Sally did know one thing: if she stayed where she was, she would break down, and that was something the princess knew she could not afford to do. Daxis had to be stopped. Mobius had to be kept safe. _That _was what ultimately mattered, not Sally's own feelings. Yet even as her resolve steeled, even as her feet propelled her forward as fast as they could, Sonic's words tainted her thoughts like poison. _"That I could ever feel anything for a controlling, vindictive ball-and-chain like you besides disgust..."_

Those were not the words of the dark servant of the Order of Daxis Sally had been ready and able to fight. If there was one person Sally knew inside and out, could recognize in every situation, it was Sonic. For once, it was an ability she wished she did not have. Knowing that was the way Sonic felt for her now...it should not have hurt as much as it did. The rational part of Sally's mind knew this. Even if it _was _the real Sonic speaking, the squirrel had already determined that, if it was time for their bond to be severed, then it was time. _"I accepted that even before all this started..."_ Sally reasoned, still pushing herself onward. _"...didn't I?"_

No. The more she thought about it, the more Sally realized how untrue such an acceptance was. When she had gone to the Lake of Rings the night before-and it was hard to believe so much had happened yet not even a full day had passed-, there had been hope. Hope that, somehow, she and Sonic could solve their problems. Even as she tried to accept that things had changed, that she would have to simply move on, she had clung to that hope. The princess did not need to wonder why: because Sonic had _always _been there. As far back as Sally could remember, the hedgehog had been at her side. To accept a tomorrow where he no longer was saddened Sally deeply. Before, such a future would have seemed impossible. She and Sonic had known each other almost their whole lives! Nothing, not time apart, not other suitors, not even a war that seemed to go on without end had changed the way they felt for each other. How, then, could Sonic turn away from her now?

One unpleasant memory blended into another, and in her mind's eye, Sally saw the image of Sonic's hateful glare replaced with a bewildered, regretful expression. Soon enough, a hand-_her _hand, Sally knew-flew across that very face with such force as to nearly knock the unsuspecting hedgehog off his feet. _"It was me..."_ Sally realized wistfully as the hallway opened up into a room. _"I drove you away..."_

Seeing that there was no further to run now that the hall was at an end, Sally came to a breathless halt; the princess had been so caught up in her thoughts, she had not realized just how far her already-exhausted body had run without stopping. The crystals that had formed the hallway's sides had changed. No longer the small panels like the ones in the Master Emerald chamber, they had changed into large, jagged prisms that jutted out of rocky walls and emanated a dozen different colors into the otherwise-dull gray room. Briefly, Sally's melancholy was pierced by curiosity as to what purpose the room served, but it was quickly dwarfed as the full weight of Sally's realization began to sink in. Leaning against the nearest wall, her already-tired body pushed to its limit by the exhaustive run, the squirrel slowly slumped to the ground. _"Daxis has to be stopped. Mobius has to be kept safe. This is all that matters."_ the rational part of her mind spoke up again.

No matter how true that sentiment was, it did little to quell the feelings of guilt, sorrow, and hopelessness that had been Sally's tormentors since her arrival in the temple that surged with renewed fervor in her heart. A future without Sonic's love...it was unthinkable. Yet it seemed to be the inevitable future that now loomed over the princess like a shadow that grew with each second. That she was the shadow's creator, however...that was the worst part. New tears brimmed in Sally's eyes, even as she dug her fingers into the wall and commanded her legs to lift her up. "Tails...Mom and Dad...Elias...Bunnie..." Sally started muttering as she began to rise up once more.

Over and over again, she spoke their names, trying to focus on the people they belonged to. Friends, family...they needed to be protected. Sonic alone was not enough to force her to forget who she was and what was at stake. _"It still hurts, though..."_ the creeping sorrow that threatened to overwhelm Sally hissed as the squirrel's knees trembled but refused to buckle.

At last, Sally stood on her feet. No sooner had she done so, however, then a familiar red glow began to fill the room. "Oh no..." Sally whispered fearfully, whipping her head around to look at the center of the room. From above, three writhing tendrils of glowing crimson light crawled through the roof. _"Stupid stupid stupid!"_ the panicked squirrel berated herself. _"You got distracted, and now..."_

Before Sally could even finish the thought, she found herself overtaken by the tentacles. Raising her arms in self defense and closing her eyes, prepared for the worst, the princess was surprised when the tendrils passed over her harmlessly. Surprise soon turned into terror, however, as a chill ran through her body. For a brief flash, Sally saw Amodeus' scowling face looking straight at her, and in her mind she heard his scratchy voice. _"I've found you..."_ it growled.

The tentacles quickly retracted back into the roof from whence they came, vanishing as quickly as they had arrived. Sally, disoriented but still standing, looked at the retreating strands of light and knew. _"I have to get out of here."_ she warned herself.

Moving to arm's distance from the wall, Sally placed a hesitant hand on its stony surface. Given her previous attempt, the princess was more than a little hesitant to try warping through the temple again, but it seemed the only mode of transport available. Closing her eyes, Sally attempted to focus as she had before, but found her thoughts consistently clouded as visions of Sonic, red eyes blazing in hatred, green eyes glimmering in confusion, flashed through her mind. Her eyes shot open, and the squirrel took a few steps back in both surprise and frustration. Though she tried not to, Sally found her gaze drifting to the hallway where she had come from...the place where she had last seen Sonic. The storm of emotions that had retracted in fear began to slowly rise up again, and for a brief moment Sally even considered going back to the hedgehog. Ultimately, however, she knew what had to be done. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes again, she resumed her mantra. "Tails...Mom and Dad...Elias...Bunnie..."

Hand again outreached to the wall, thoughts clearer than before, Sally slowly began to pass through the rocky surface. Just as her hand slipped through, however, the squirrel was violently jerked away and found herself flung to the other side of the room. Yelping in surprise and pain, Sally fell face first onto the ground. "Tut tut...", a voice Sally had hoped never to hear again taunted on the edge of her fading consciousness, "you didn't think you'd get away _that _easily, did you?"

Standing triumphantly over her fallen prey, Lilith grinned in satisfaction. When Amodeus had mentally contacted her to inform the bat of the situation and the princess' location, she had still been looking for Sonic. When the old goat had gotten...insistent..., she had consented to take care of the Child, since Amodeus himself was drained from using the seeker spell. _"Once I take care of _you_," _Lilith thought contemptuously as she picked up the unconscious Sally by the scruff of her neck, _"I can make sure you'll never hurt my Blue again..."_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Goodbye..."

That was all Sonic found he could say as the Child of the Source ran off. _"Get up!" _his mind urged a non-compliant body. _"You have to go after her!"_

Sonic knew that. Where the hedgehog was no longer sure, however, was the area of why. Did he want to capture her for the Order...or was there something more to his desire? The answers had all seemed so clear when he had first stumbled upon the princess, so why was he having so much trouble understanding them now? _"You're a Freedom Fighter from Knothole Village, one of the best there is, and you...you're my..."_

"Shut up..." Sonic whispered, "You're...you're lying..."

The hedgehog felt ill then. Vision blurring, dizziness washing over him, it was as if his entire world was whirling around him. _"You're my friend...my best friend."_

"You're the _enemy!_" he hissed, desperate to silence her voice as it continued to ring throughout his thoughts. "You and your kind...desperate for control, choking the life out of this planet to get it..."

Those words...he spoke them as confidently as he could, yet somehow they felt wrong to the hedgehog. A sharp, stinging pain suddenly shot through his head, like his very skull was trying to burst out. Teeth gritted, holding in an agonized scream, Sonic drew his hands to clutch his throbbing temples. Stumbling on uneven footing, he could hear her...over and over again...and each time he did, it sounded a little more like she was telling the truth. "No..." the hedgehog growled defiantly, even as the pain that gripped his mind intensified to all-but-unbearable levels. "It's...not..."

The sentence died in his throat as a burning sensation seemed to tear across Sonic's torso. It felt almost as if a branding iron was pressing down against him. _"Relax...pain is often the price paid for freedom..."_

"Lilith...?" Sonic half-spoke, half-coughed as the bat's ethereal voice echoed in his ears.

Overwhelmed by the flood of sensations, the hedgehog fell to his knees, breath heaving and ragged. The feel of burning had subsided to a dull ache, but the vice-like headache continued to tighten its grip. Feeling as if on the brink of death, Sonic's head slumped downwards, forcing his eyes to gaze upon a surprising sight: running from the lower left corner of his stomach to the upper right corner of his chest was a scar. _"How long has that been there...?"_ his groggy mind wondered.

_Her razor nails dug into his flesh, reaching across in a diagonal path. It felt as if a fire was lit inside his very soul, yet the hedgehog did not scream. He could not. _

A flash of something half-remembered, half-dreamed passed through Sonic's vision.

_A hand struck his face with surprising force. Anger, confusion, and disappointment welled up in Sonic, each with equal measure._

Yes...he remembered...he and the Princess...but how? Why?

_Looking at the castle from the outskirts of Knothole, he sighed. "How come, just when things are lookin' up...they all fall down?" he asked quietly._

Memories. These visions...they were memories, buried within his mind.

_"Well, hello there..."_

_He was surprised when a gorgeous silver bat climbed on top of his toppled form. "Um...hi there..." he offered lamely, "Sorry for, uh, bumpin' into you before..."_

_"Oh that's no problem!" she giggled back. "By the way, my name's Lilith..."_

It was like watching the pieces of a puzzle fall into place. Yet everything that lay beyond the pieces he had seen was a blank to the hedgehog. Wracking his mind to try and put them together into a cohesive whole, another vision came to him, a memory...yet this one felt different, somehow. It felt larger...more powerful...

_"I'm sorry..." he whispered, "but you're wrong. For me...for her...we'll make things work out. Somehow."_

_Sonic spoke those words even as the bat circled_ _him slowly. "Why settle for her", she asked, leaning in so that she was face to face with the hedgehog, "when you could have so much more?"_

_Brushing Lilith aside, Sonic prepared to leave, regretting already that he had let things go this far. "I have all I want already..." he said icily._

_"What about freedom?" Lilith asked._

_He stopped at that. "She tried to take that away from you tonight," the bat continued, "Do you really think she won't try again? That she hasn't _been _trying all this time?"_

_Hesitantly, Sonic turned to face her again. For a moment, he thought he saw a glint of crimson in her eyes as he faced her, but it vanished too quickly for him to tell. Either way, he could not deny that she had honed in on a fear that had started out small after he left Knothole and had only grown during their brief time together. He had never thought about the future before, where his relationship with the Princess was going...all that had mattered was that being with her made him happy. Now, however..._

_"You can't go risking your life in battle if we're going to have a real future together!"_

_The Princess' angry words sprung to mind immediately. Was that the future that awaited him if he stayed with her? Was the only way to hold onto her love to become chained down to a life he did not want? Almost as if she were reading his thoughts, Lilith, who was slowly working to close the gap between them again, spoke up. "Her life is predicated on control, but you...you live for the moment, without fear or doubt. Control is the last thing you want in your life. _

_"Maybe...", Sonic replied unsteadily, "but that doesn't change how I feel..."_

_"Oh, I know how she makes you feel, Blue," Lilith answered, now nose to nose with the hedgehog, "and I can make you feel that way too. The only difference is..." Leaning in to his ear, she finished in a hushed, alluring whisper, "with me, you can always be free."_

_The sound of her voice sent shivers of excitement down Sonic's spine. Even as part of him screamed to leave, to get out before he did something he would regret, the hedgehog found the part of him telling him to stay sounded stronger. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, still cooing in his ear. "To feel like you do with her, and not have to worry about what comes after?"_

_There was no answer at first. Sonic was unsure what to say as he tried to make sense of the many conflicting thoughts and feelings stirring up inside him. "Just a simple yes or no, Blue..." Lilith prompted. _

_Closing his eyes and just letting her words reverberate inside him, Sonic finally gave his honest response. "Yes..."_

_"Then come with me." the bat offered, surprising Sonic with the change in her voice; before, it had been confident, strong...alluring...but now, it was far gentler, compassionate. Taking a few steps back, hand extended in offering, she spoke, "I can give you that, and so much more..."_

_Another glint of red that Sonic only half-saw passed across Lilith's eyes. Another wave of excitement shot through the hedgehog. Despite a nagging, doubtful voice deep, deep inside of him telling him not to, Sonic found his hand clasped around Lilith's._

_"The Pact is sealed." she said, joyfully yet menacingly as well._

_A red glow wrapped itself around the two at her words, but at that point Sonic did not care. The feeling surging through him at that moment...it was incredible, like being held down by a thousand chains only to have them snap all at once and flying across the sky. Eyes closed to allow it to sink in, Sonic felt it creeping through him, blotting out everything else...memories, feelings, thoughts...not gone, but muted, covered in a terrible shadow. Yet he did not care. He was free. Finally, _finally _he was free of it all..._

The vision receded, yet that sensation...that of a great and terrible weight vanishing...remained. Even aware of the deception that had birthed it, a part of Sonic still wanted to stay as he was if it only meant holding onto that feeling. To continue living in that beautiful illusion...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Yet...he could not. He could not simply forget the feeling the Princess' words had left in him, the part of himself they had stirred. The thought of her again triggered a vision of memory. Like the one before, Sonic could sense its importance...but this time he felt something else as well...something warm, comforting...

_Hiding beneath a desk, Sonic watched his uncle greet the King. The five-year old hedgehog had met the monarch many times before, as he often came by to speak with his Uncle for various reasons, all very Kingly Sonic was sure. Today, however, there was someone else with the King, the person who had driven the young boy into hiding. Clutching close to the King's leg was a child dressed in silky blue, a _girl._ Unsure of what to make of this strange creature, Sonic chose to observe her from a safe distance. He watched as the King knelt down, forcing the girl to release her hold on his leg. "Now listen closely, my dear," he said kindly, patting her shoulder. "I must discuss very important things with this gentleman. Feel free to look around his workshop, but don't touch anything and behave yourself, understood?"_

_"Yes daddy..." she answered timidly._

_"That's my little Bean," the King spoke with a smile that practically glowed. "Now, run along and enjoy yourself."_

_"I will." _

_With that, the two hugged each other warmly. The King then rose to his feet and the mysterious girl began to wander off, but not before Sonic's Uncle called out to her, "Oh, and if you see my nephew, be sure to let me know; I've been lookin' for him all morning."_

_"'Kay," the intruder responded with a slight curtsy. _

_A mischievous smile spread across Sonic's face as he watched the girl walk off from the two adults, who quickly became engaged in another conversation that was undoubtedly bursting at the seams with kingliness. At last, his prey was alone...unprotected. "Time to do it to it!" he whispered to himself encouragingly, crawling out from under the desk only to dash off and await his chance to get the drop on the little girl._

_Sure that he had not been spotted, Sonic now stood with his back pressed against the wall. Having memorized every inch of his Uncle's workshop (or at least that was what his infantile arrogance believed), he knew that if the intruder continued the way she had been going, she would end up here soon. Listening carefully for the sound of her footsteps, he prepared his brilliant plan for action: he would leap out and scare the snot out of her. Click-clacks echoed nearby, signaling her approach. Doing his best to suppress his laughter, the boy went to work, jumping from his hiding spot to right in front of the girl with as loud a "BOO!" as he could muster._

_Unfortunately, the girl in question was, in fact, several feet away, and so the effect was lessened quite a bit. Impatience, it seemed, had once again gotten the better of Sonic, who had reacted to the echoes of the girl's steps too soon. For a moment, the two simply stood there, he still in his jump-scare pose, she seemingly unsure what to make of this odd new arrival. Eventually, however, the silence and stillness were both ended when the girl smiled, and began to laugh. "You're funny!" she giggled, leaving the young hedgehog frustrated and flustered._

_"Am not!" he defended childishly._

_"Are too!" the girl laughed back._

_"AM NOT!" Sonic retaliated again, louder this time._

_The girl could not answer this time, she was too busy laughing. Temper rising, Sonic stomped his feet up and down as fast as they could go. "I'll show you!" he shouted, though he had no idea how he was going to do so._

_Before he could finalize such a plan, he noticed the intruder was no longer laughing. Looking at her, Sonic saw she was staring, amazed, at his feet, still moving up and down at incredible speeds. "Wow..." she whispered absently, absorbed in watching the feet move._

_Stopping, Sonic found his anger fading quickly, replaced instead by a flushing sensation in his cheeks and a simultaneous boost in ego. "Oh, yeah, _that!_" he feigned a casual tone. "Pretty cool, huh?"_

_The girl simply nodded. "So...what's your name?" she finally asked._

_"Me? I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" he answered triumphantly with his hands placed at his hips heroically, all thoughts of this girl's previous strangeness to him long gone. "Who're you?"_

_"Oh. My name is..."_

"Sally."

Returned again to the vantage of the present, Sonic spoke the name as if it were the most sacred thing in the world. It was the key. With it restored to him, the rest of his true memories followed suit like a tidal wave. Tails...Uncle Chuck...his parents...Knothole...all of it. The fiery red that had corrupted Sonic's eyes mellowed into their normal grass green, the color of his fur lightened to its true shade, and the shadowy shroud that had covered his mind vanished. In their place stood Sonic the Hedgehog, restored at last. "Sally..." he repeated, voice hoarse, "Oh, Goddess...Sally, I...how could I..."

He remembered everything. Including his choice. His foolish, arrogant, selfish choice. Looking down at his chest, Sonic saw the scar left behind from his induction into the Order was still there, a reminder of his horrible mistake. Pounding his fist into the ground, he shouted and screamed and raged, letting emotions that had been left to stew inside him for far too long loose in a single furious display. Rising to his feet, slamming himself into the walls, he continued like that for as long as his weary body would allow. When it was all over, when his venting was finished and his energy was spent, Sonic stood, arms limp by his side, staring at the ceiling with ragged breath. Taking time to recompose himself, the hedgehog's gaze soon fell to his front, looking ahead. His own personal problems would have to wait. Something far more important lay in that direction. "Hang on, Sal..." he whispered, "I'm coming..."

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Perspectives

Author's Note: It's been a long time coming, but I've finally resumed work on this baby. It was weird starting it up again at first, but as I really got into it, it was satisfying to really get back into the groove of it. Sorry for the long hiatus, but hopefully it was worth your patience.

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Nine: Perspective

_"So…you're the Troop Chaplin, eh? Bit scrawnier than I would've imagined…"_

_Amodeus Grayruff pushed his bifocals up the ridge of his nose at the comment. "I apologize if I disappoint, Commander…" he replied, voice a mixture of smooth calm and meek shyness._

_The Commander in question, a boar of considerable girth, laughed heartily. "Heh…no need to apologize, Preacher Man," he chuckled. "If you can keep my men's spirits up long enough for us to take out that new Overlander weapon, I don't care if I could fit ya in the palm of my hand."_

_Amodeus tried to suppress a grin, but failed. He had been more than a little nervous when he had initially volunteered to act as Cleric for this unit; it would mark the first time he would act as a spiritual advisor on the battlefield. Still, the mission was of vital importance, and the goat had felt compelled to provide what little aid he could. So it was he now found himself travelling with Troop 14 of the Mobian Royal Army, marching through the green grass and tall trees of Northwood Forest. The Book of Aurora held comfortably to his side, he took comfort in the knowledge that he had already made a friend in his Commanding Officer. "I hope I prove equal to the task, Sir." he said humbly._

_The boar gave him a pat on the back. "Heh, me too, Preacher Man, me too."_

_Just then, one of the soldiers, a young cat, approached. "Commander Bach, Sir! We just got word from our scout: the Overlander unit transporting the Weapon has been spotted ten miles due North of our current position."_

_Instantly, the boar's joviality disappeared. "Understood, soldier. Inform the rest of the unit we'll be cutting through the thick of the woods in order to reach the enemy unit sooner, and to prepare themselves for Combat." He said firmly._

_"Yes, Sir."_

_With that, the cat marched off behind them to fulfill his order. "Well, Preacher Man," Commander Bach grunted softly, "got any good prayers in that book 'o' yours? 'Cuz I'm bettin' we're gonna need each and every last one of 'em."_

_Amodeus gulped a bit, but opened the Book of Aurora up and swiftly thumbed through its pages. His memory of the Book was practically photographic, and within seconds, he'd found the section he had been looking for. With solemn strength, he read, "'Ye, though the dark clouds of Death itself unfold in the sky above me, I stand with diligence and pride; Spirit of the Walkers, guide my hand; Spirit of the Goddess, guide my heart.'" _

_Bach grinned again, as he had before news of the enemy had been delivered to him. His voice, too, spoke with the same cheer, "Mmm…no worryin' 'bout bein' up t' the task now, Preacher Man…" he said, "Better go share that one with the rest of the Unit; they'll love it."_

_Amodeus nodded, turning back to re-join the troops. Whatever doubts and fears he had felt, reading from the Book always smoothed them away…earning the Commander's approval certainly helped this time around. Even as he and his fellow Mobians drew closer to the enemy, he took strength from both facts. _

_And then, as if in the blink of an eye, he was in the heat of battle. Body pressed tightly to the ground, his Book still held close, he could barely bring himself to look above and see the flurry of arrows and spears and laser fire that criss-crossed inches above him. Silently muttering every prayer and passage he could think of to keep himself calm-or at least as close to calm as he could come in the situation-he crawled along the grass in search of safer ground, doing his best to block out the shouts of rage and pain that reverberated across the fields. Not long after his desperate trek had begun, however, the Chaplin felt himself lifted from the ground and carried off into the air. Grass turned to sky. Trying to scream only for his voice to fail him, Amodeus looked to his side to see Commander Bach, the handles to an Overlander hover-speeder gripped tightly in his hands. The boar said nothing, and Amodeus found he had no strength to ask for answers as all noise faded away, the battle falling behind as they climbed higher and higher. That was when the goat felt the air grow burning hot around them, saw a gleaming white light from the corner of his eyes. Turning around, he saw the whole of Northwood consumed in a bubble of that light, a bubble that only grew and grew, arching up towards them like the opening maw of some terrible beast. Suddenly, he again found himself lifted into Bach's arms and pressed to the boar's chest; the hover-speeder, its abilities pushed beyond their limits, stopped, and even as the light faded away, both Mobians fell hundreds of miles from the sky… _

X X X

With a pained groan, Amodeus awoke to the blurred sight of his own reflection in the crystalline floor of the Main Hall. Whatever energy had remained from using the Seeking Spell to locate the Child of the Source had been spent telepathically contacting Lilith to retrieve her. After that, the Shaman realized as fresh ache throbbed in his body, he must have passed out. Still strained to his brink, he slowly rose to his feet, leaving heavily upon his staff to do so. _"How long…how long was I passed out in a pool of my own memories…?"_ he wondered.

_"Long Enough…"_ the ominous voice of Daxis entered his mind.

"M…Master…"

_"Is the Child re-captured?"_

Still struggling to regain his strength, Amodeus nodded. "Y…yes…I sent…sent Lilith to retrieve her…" he answered, wheezing every so often.

His body trembled as Daxis growled, _"Not good enough. Do you KNOW that our servant was successful?"_

"…no…" Amodeus coughed meagerly. "…b…but I'm sure…"

_"SILENCE!!"_ Daxis snapped impatiently, sending another tremor through Amodeus' frail body. _"YOU are the one responsible for delaying the Ritual and giving the Child her chance to escape, Shaman…your opinion has little merit right now."_

The goat gulped fearfully. His Master was right; the Child's escape was his fault, and he knew even if he succeeded in bringing her back, he would have to answer for that. "Y…yes, Master…of course…." He said humbly.

_"As soon as the Child is found, I want her brought to me." _Daxis' voice boomed firmly even as it began to fade from Amodeus' mind._ " I can sense our enemies have already begun to move against us…we MUST complete the Ritual while we still have the chance."_

X X X

The storm was still pouring as the lone Arachne dashed across the fields of grass. The skunk had been clear in his orders, and as he always did, the ninja followed them with speed and precision. Running with as much speed as he could muster, the nameless spider saw his target soon approaching in the distance: the hover-craft he and his comrades had arrived in. Somehow, seeing the ovular ship aroused a feeling of…fear? No, not quite…the ninja did not know what fear truly was. However, he DID understand the finite nature of mortality, and looking at the ship brought about an acute sense of that understanding. If the skunk's plan worked, they would at last enter the heart of the enemy…and that meant…

_"Once you enter the heart of the Temple, the link that connects you three brothers to each other and to the rest of your Clan will be severed by the dark powers that reside there…" The Source spoke to the three chosen Ninja. "Without this link, your ability to defend yourselves WILL be compromised."_

_The voice of the Source echoed across their minds, no sense of sadness to it, but of acceptance. "However, you must also understand that those who journey from Knothole to free my Child are her only hope. THEY must enter, even if YOU do not survive…"_

That was their mission. They had known this fact, accepted it willingly, and journeyed this far without hesitation. Now, however…the end of the road loomed close, and the spider was all too aware of just how close it was. Entering the vehicle, he attempted to push such thoughts aside and focus instead on his new task: figuring out how the blasted ship worked. Modern technology was not COMPLETELY beyond his ken, but it was also far from his forte. Nevertheless, the spider set to work attempting to decipher the controls. As two hands explored the vast array of buttons and knobs, the third took the kunai upon which Sonic's blood was stained out of his pocket. _"Time is short…"_ he thought, feeling the growing plight of his brothers. _"We must engage the ship now, regardless of the risk…"_

Having looked over the controls as quickly as he could, the spider had a rough understanding of how to work the ship, and that would simply have to suffice. Pressing a red button in the console's center and pulling back on a horizontally-handled lever, the Arachne braced himself as the ship roared to life. It trembled violently as it lifted off the air, and the ninja could only assume there was some sort of stabilizing mechanism he had not known to activate. Pushing onwards regardless, the spider wrapped his two upper hands around what was clearly the steering wheel, pushing forward. The ship moved as instructed, though it lurched fiercely, its pilot still uncomfortable in operating it. Unevenly, the hovercraft made its way through the rain, picking up speed as its engine warmed up further. The Arachne remained steadfast at the controls, doing his best to focus on simply reaching his goal without getting too distracted by his confusion over the controls. Before long, the surface level of the Temple came into view. Bracing himself as the trembling vehicle approached closer and closer, the Arachne gripped his kunai fiercely. The shrill screeching of metal scraping against stone entered his ears as the ship barreled through the slightly-too-narrow entrance, and so the spider could not hear his own voice as he shouted, "ENPO OS WE SSAP!!"

And right before the spider's eyes, he watched through the ship's visor as the painting-and even portions of the wall around it-melted away like a puddle of water in a storm. _"Get down…"_ he thought, knowing his brothers would hear and respond.

Indeed, as the familiar battle-torn hallway he had departed several minutes ago returned into his view, he caught a glimpse of black and red at the very corners of the ship's line of sight. The hovercraft plowed through the Daboro's ranks with ease, knocking some to the side while others were bucked up across its visor. Each one that was struck seemed to vanish into thin air soon afterwards; they were retreating to the Zone of Silence to heal their wounds, it seemed. Again the shriek of scraping metal filled the air as the ship plowed through stones and vines on its doomed course, and the Arachne, 

its mission completed, made haste to escape from it. Mercifully, the spider already knew how to open the door, leaping gracefully out of the hurtling machine gracefully and without incident. Bounding along the walls back to the beginning of the hallway, he was reunited with his brothers and allies, receiving a pat on the back from Geoffrey so strong it nearly knocked him off his feet. "WELL DONE!" the skunk congratulated heartily. "Ya cut it a little close, mate, but you pulled it off. Good work."

The ninja, not accustomed to such passion, gave a humble bow. "It was your plan," he said softly. "You deserve credit as well."

Like the ninja, Geoffrey accepted the praise with a modest grin, quickly turning his attention to his recovering team. One by one, they rose. "How is everyone holding up?" the skunk asked, lending Hershey a hand to help her to her feet.

She smiled at the gesture, composing herself and answering, "I'm alright, Geoff…a little worn out, but I'll live."

"Same here…" Rotor replied, dusting himself off.

Tails seemed a bit wearier, but he too gave a light "thumb's up" as he stood up again. The three Arachne silently reconvened with each other, sharing a single solemn stare before turning to face the roaring explosion that sounded at the end of the hallway; the hovercraft had crashed. "We must move quickly." They spoke as one. "The enemy was expecting our attack, which means the element of surprise is lost to us, and we have even less time than we thought."

"Yeah, yeah…just…ungh…gimme a second…" a strained voice replied.

Slowly but surely, Knuckles struggled to stand up. Clearly, he'd taken the worst of the fight: his whole body was covered in cuts and bruises. "Are you OK…?" Julie-Su asked softly, leaning in to help him to his feet.

As her hands reached toward him, however, the echidna slapped them away. "I'm fine…" he replied hastily, finally standing up again. "Just…I'm fine."

Even as he spoke, the echidna's knees trembled and he felt an ache in his ribs, but he remained standing. Julie-Su eyed him warily: he was lying, and everyone-himself included-knew it. What surprised the pink-furred echidna, however, was that no one seemed willing to call him on it. _"Of course not…"_ she reasoned with herself solemnly. _"THEIR primary concern is Princess Sally…and they need all the help they can get to rescue her…"_

That was HER mission too, she reminded herself, and Knuckles'. "Julie-Su…" the Guardian said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I promise…I'm fine."

She looked at him sadly; there was no point in arguing now, and as the Arachne had pointed out, time was of the essence. "Of course you are, Knuckles…of course you are…" she answered under 

her breath, slowly leaving his grip and marching down the hallway. "Come on!" she snapped. "Let's get moving!"

X X X

Sonic the Hedgehog was honestly surprised he could move right then. Normally, of course, the irony of that feeling would have struck him as hilarious. Right now, however, very little seemed funny anymore. Unable or unwilling to move full speed, he could not tell, and pushed on purely by adrenaline, the hedgehog did his best to focus purely on the road in front of him…putting one foot in front of the other as he jogged down the hall…the mission he NEEDED to complete. _"Think of Sal…"_ he reminded himself fiercely. _"Don't think about ANYTHING else, 'cuz right now, she needs you…don't be distracted…don't be distracted…"_

Only…there was far too much else to think about for Sonic's mind not to grasp at their frayed, jagged edges with every second. How long…how long had he allowed himself to live in that illusion of a life Li…the ORDER…had created for him? Days? Weeks? YEARS? He knew it was a lie now, every last second of it…but he could REMEMBER every last second of it as well. Amodeus, gently explaining to him that his parents had died bringing him to the Temple to save him…a shimmering mural of plate-glass images he would visit every day when he was young to remind himself of Daxis' story…training relentlessly to strengthen himself in the ways of the Order…and all the while, SHE was there. Lilith. The one who'd done this to him. _"No…"_ a silent, solemn voice spoke within, even as Sonic continued his struggle to focus himself on the task at hand, _"I did this to myself…"_

Dammitall, how had he GOTTEN here? How had he let things go this far? Had he really been so STUPID as to turn the other cheek when he knew he was being deceived? _"I was just so MAD…"_ he thought to himself even as he tried to re-focus his mind. _"I just…I was so tired of having to fight every step of the way just to spend TIME with Sal…"_

His fists gripped tightly as that thought crossed him. Once, there had been a time where his relationship with Sally was simplicity itself. They had been close friends, practically family, and no one had cared that he was just some kid and she was a Princess. Then they were thrown into the middle of a war, and they grew even closer. There were times where she would confuse the hedgehog, and frustrate him beyond all reason, but even then, all that counted was how they felt for each other. Eventually, though, things changed again. Suddenly, there was Geoffrey and Mina and his family and her father and wall after wall after WALL. Every time he burrowed through one, there was just another waiting to be found. There were so many, when he'd finally gotten through each and every one of them, when he and Sally could finally just be together again…it had all come crashing down. He'd been reminded all too harshly how different they really were…

_"DON'T BE DISTRACTED!!"_ he mentally snapped at himself. _"It doesn't matter how different you two are, or whether or not you'll never be together again at all, she NEEDS YOUR HELP! So pull yourself together and HELP HER!!"_

Then, he saw…up ahead, not far in the distance…a light! _"The other end of the hall…"_ he thought, shrugging off the fact that it was his false memories that let him know that.

He saw something else, too…Sally, on the ground…hurt. In danger. Just like he'd feared. She was lifted off the ground by another figure, one Sonic recognized all too well. Pushing himself as hard as he could, he began to achieve full speed. No matter what it took, he was going to make this right. He was going to get Sally to safety and bury the Order of Daxis so deep it would never know the waking world again. In that one moment, a moment of clarity and white-hot emotions, life was simple again, and he raised a fist into the air and let it fly as he burst right into the target:

Lilith.

X X X

_Normally, Lilith Sandrea hated stealth missions. She preferred being out in the open, letting her enemy know she was there to deal with them and there was NOTHING they could do about it. This situation, however, was different…she and Amodeus had been visiting Mobotropolis in secret for months now, ever since the city had successfully been rebuilt. The first few visits had been just as the bat suspected they would be: boring and all but unbearably dull. "We are here to OBSERVE…" Amodeus would remind her sternly (incessantly, it felt like),"That is what Lord Daxis demands, and that is what we do. Your thirst for excitement is unimportant compared to that."_

_She would grumble and roll her eyes every time he said it. WHY it was so important to Daxis that they watch all these idiotic, worthless peons live out their idiotic, worthless peon lives was a mystery to her, but she never questioned Amodeus' authority beyond the most superficial level. Time after time, then, she was stuck, barely able to keep herself awake as they hid and "observed". And then, one day…it had all changed. Things had seemed different on that day: a celebration of some sort was being held. What it was and who it was for, Lilith did not know or care. Later on, however, when afternoon came…that was when the day TRULY became exciting. Meteors had begun to pummel the city mercilessly (she would later learn from Amodeus it was the latest in a series of attacks orchestrated by Dr. Eggman), and the bat had soaked in the excitement of it all eagerly. Then…she had seen him. A blue streak speeding by, helping everyone he could find to safety. In brief flashes she would see the figure behind the blur, a hedgehog whose eyes burned with a familiar passion…from then on, her visits to Mobotropolis (and subsequently Knothole Village when Eggman retook the city) took on a very different tone…_

_She had watched him attentively, seeing in him a kindred spirit…a being who lived purely for freedom, for the RUSH of that next thrill. Every so often, she would sneak away from Amodeus just to stay with the hedgehog just a little bit longer. Suddenly, she found herself looking forward to these little "Observation" visits. Today was no different. As she and Amodeus floated through the trees, _

_approaching the village, she could feel herself brightening at the thought of seeing that hedgehog again. Amodeus's mind, however, was clearly elsewhere. "Something bothering you?" she asked the shaman as politely as she could._

_The goat's eyes narrowed as he looked ahead. "Something is…wrong. For months now, we have watched from the shadows, waiting for the Child of the Source to finally relinquish her gift to us and free Lord Daxis…" he answered contemplatively._

_"But…?" _

_"But…we are still waiting. Even after all that has happened…we are still waiting."_

_Lilith pondered her teacher's words for a moment. The Child…that squirrel Princess…held the weight of the world upon her shoulders. The bat was honestly surprised she had not broken down a long time ago. Yet here they were, and Amodeus was clearly beginning to wonder if she ever WOULD break down. It was a goal , Lilith realized, that had grown distant in her thoughts ever since that blue hedgehog had become her new…hobby, she supposed was the best word, even though it really did not describe the way she felt toward him. Suddenly, she heard a sound…engines, coming closer. "Hide." She said simply, flapping her wings and entering the trees in secret._

_A faint red glow surrounded Amodeus' floating body, carrying him next to Lilith amongst the green leaves. Not long after, they saw the source of the noise: three jet-bikes, ridden by a trio of well-warmed weasels. One of the bikes, however, had an extra prisoner. Limp and unconscious, laying in the backseat…_

_"The Child of the Source…" Amodeus hissed fearfully…_

Now, Lilith stood in the present, and the Child lay in her hands…limp and unconscious, just as before. She glared angrily at the squirrel, even as she dragged her motionless body across the room toward the nearest wall. Miserable, selfish little girl…trying to weigh Blue down with her wants and desires, choking all the life out of him just so he could be her life-preserver…well not anymore. Lilith would END the Princess. She'd be gone, and the whole of Mobius would be a personal playground for her and her Blue. Her hand reached out, touching the shimmering surface of the wall, and she began the spell to open the way to the inner sanctum. "Enpo…"

No sooner had the word left her mouth did the bat feel her face slammed into by a rock-hard force, followed by the entirety of her body flying to the other side of the room. Yelping in surprise and pain as her back hit stone, she fell to her face, struggling to get back up even as she realized she had lost her grip on the Child. As her eyes slowly moved toward the source of the attack, she was fearful of what they would see.

"B…Blue…?"

Sure enough, she found herself face to face with Sonic the Hedgehog, but not HER Sonic…this Sonic's fur was brighter, his quills softer, his eyes green. She recognized the scar that ran along his 

chest, the one she'd given to him to initiate him into their Order…it had been hidden from the hedgehog to keep him from the truth. _"If it's visible now…"_ she realized, trembling at the thought, _"that means he remembers his true past…"_

The bat wanted to scream, wanted to smash and yell and hate until the whole cave collapsed. Looking down at the Child, who lay unconscious on the floor between them, she wanted to snap her neck; this was HER fault, SHE'D taken him from her AGAIN!! Clenching her fists, her eyes returned to Sonic , who stood silently, arm still bent toward the ground as if he had just struck the bat. For a minute, neither spoke, or even moved. Eventually, however, the hedgehog knelt down to the floor. To HER. Whatever composure Lilith had maintained blew away then, and in a fit of rage, she flew straight at him. Soon, he was up against the wall, her knee in his gut, her elbow to his neck. "Don't…" she growled, practically begging.

For the briefest of moments, Sonic considered listening to her request…memories of that energetic little girl who'd offered her hand in friendship to a lonesome child deprived of his parents flashed across his mind…but then a different thought came to the fore. A claw dragging across his chest…a promise of freedom meant only to mask a life of servitude…and suddenly his sympathy turned to anger, and anger quickly turned to action. He slammed his head against Lilith's as sharply as he could, catching the bat by surprise and knocking her back a few steps. Sliding off the rocky walls, he shook himself a bit to clear his senses before taking a confident stance. "You don't get to tell me what to do anymore." he said sharply, a smile appearing on his face at the familiar rush of action.

"I've never tried to tell you what to do, Blue…" Lilith replied with a distinct note of sadness. "I've only ever tried to protect you."

Sonic thumbed his nose at her. "Funny way 'o' showing it you've got there…" he replied sarcastically. "Now, are ya gonna turn tail 'n' run, or is this gonna have to get nasty?"

He wished he felt as carefree as he sounded; rush or no, the false life Lilith had created for him was still dancing around in his head, stirring feelings of confusion and guilt that would not be so easily soothed. As he had before, the hedgehog resolved to go on pure adrenaline from there on out. _"Focus on the fight…"_ he coached himself. _"Focus on the rush..don't get distracted…do what you do best 'n' save the day."_

Lilith took to his demeaning words about as well as he had expected, scowling in frustration. Soon, however, her face softened, and her body relaxed. "I mean it, Blue…" she cooed with an all-too-familiar silkiness. "If it'll take a fight to prove it to you, you'll find I'm more than capable.

Sonic stood his ground, eyes darting every so often to Sally. If Lilith went for her…used her as a shield…he had to act before that. "Whatever you say!" he shouted, leaping over Sally and spin-dashing toward the bat.

To his surprise, the only thing he made contact with was one of the crystals jutting from the wall. "What the…?" he whispered aloud, only for a kicking foot to come flying out of the ground, striking 

him in the jaw so hard he fell off his feet. The rest of Lilith's body soon came out of the ground, as if emerging from the top of a lake. The hedgehog was only able to barely dodge her as she pounced. "C'mon, Blue, don't tell me you've forgotten already!" she taunted as she dashed towards him again. "I'm a MASTER of the Order's magics!"

Sonic leapt onto one of the crystals as she swiped at him, realizing he knew what she meant: her abilities with moving through the Temple were so good, she could meld with the walls and floors of a room without the use of an incantation so long as she stayed within that same room. That, he knew, put him at a distinct disadvantage: this room was larger than the hall he'd fought Sally in before-and he dared not think about THAT right now for too long-but it was still too small for him to make full use of his speed, and Lilith now had the ability to come at him anywhere, at anytime. Sure enough, the next thing Sonic knew, Lilith had tackled him from behind. "Don't worry, Blue…" she whispered softly into his ear as they fell the ground, "even if it hurts BOTH of us, I won't stop protecting you."

The hedgehog's body bristled at the sound of her voice. Snapping his arms back, he broke out of her grip just in time to roll across the floor, narrowly missing Sally as he tumbled along. Lilith swooped upwards, gliding upon her wings and hovering towards him. _"She's not near any of the walls…"_ his mind calculated quickly, _"She can't teleport out of the way this time!"_

With that thought, he bounced straight up at the bat, quill-laden back facing her. Yet again, however, he felt nothing but air where Lil…where his enemy should have been. Landing awkwardly on his back, the hedgehog soon found a knee buried in his stomach. Gasping for air, Sonic stared up into Lilith's triumphant face. "I always COULD take you down." She said smugly.

The hedgehog coughed and sputtered, feeling the weight of his wounds pierce the adrenaline that had managed to push him this far. "Y…you're…pretty fast…" he said defiantly between coughs. "I…feel like I should know that…but…well, my mind's been…kinda messed up lately…"

Lilith frowned as he spat out those last words with as much vitriol as he could muster. She slowly lifted her knee off his body, only to put a firm foot back down upon it to hold the hedgehog in place. "You can't see it…can you?" she whispered softly, eyes filled with sorrow.

"See WHAT?" Sonic roared back hoarsely. "That you've ruined my LIFE? That you made me betray my friends and family and endanger the whole WORLD? WHAT IS IT YOU DON'T THINK I SEE HERE?"

"SHE WAS KILLING YOU!!" Lilith answered with equal force, pressing down on his chest without fully meaning to. "You had this wondrous FIRE in you, Blue...you lived like lightning, fast and simple and uninhibited. And every day, EVERY DAY, I watched as she choked a little bit more of that fire out of you…tightened that noose of rules and missions and attachment closer and closer around your neck!"

"As opposed to what? YOU?" Sonic growled. "You made me a SLAVE…a MONSTER! And you think that's SAVING ME?"

Lilith shook her head. "You don't understand…Daxis is going to change this world, Blue. He's going to get rid of War and violence and Princesses…he's going to lock them ALL away, and when they're gone…"

She lightened her step, and offered Sonic her hand. "It's just going to be US. The WORLD will be all ours. We can explore and adventure and run all we want, and we won't have to worry about ANYTHING. That's why I asked Amodeus to let you into the Order…that's why I tried to give you a new life, a BETTER life, with us. You could THRIVE in that new world, Blue, but only if you're with us…only if you make it clear to Daxis you're something BETTER than people like HER."

She pointed the tip of her wing at Sally. Her hand floated ever closer to Sonic. "It's not too late, Blue…you can still be with us. Still be with ME. She doesn't understand you like I do…and she never will."

Sonic felt a knot in his stomach. There was a part of him that wanted to accept, and whether it was really HIS thoughts or the thoughts of the person Lilith had created, he could not tell. All he knew was that the very temptation that had drawn him into the Order in the first place…that desire to not have to care anymore, to just be DONE with walls and love and having to fight for EVERYTHING…was still there. Yet he knew…he knew now more than ever…that wasn't the life he wanted. No matter how often his will clashed with the rules of the world around him…the PEOPLE around him…Sonic knew there was no gain worth the price of what he was being asked to sacrifice. "If you think I'd say yes to that…" Sonic said, a quiet ferocity in his voice as his hand reached up and wrapped around Lilith's, "you don't know me as well as you THINK you do."

His grip tightened, and he yanked the bat down into a solid punch to the face. Flipping her to the ground, he gave another blow to her stomach, winding her. Getting back up (and still feeling a bit woozy), he panted in exhaustion. _"Man…I'm runnin' out of gas here, but Lil…she's still got a ways to go…gotta end this somehow…"_ he thought to himself, eyes scurrying about in search of just such a solution.

The shimmering light of the crystals made it a bit hard to focus on anything, but even as Lilith began to get on her feet again, the hedgehog hit on a plan. She might be able to merge with the WALLS of the room, but…

"I know you better than you think!" Lilith wheezed as she recovered from the attack, already back on her feet. "I've tasted your SOUL, Blue…I know EVERYTHING about you…"

Sonic grinned defiantly, even as he pondered the true meaning of her words. "Is that so?" he asked chidingly.

It was something to worry about later, he told himself; for now, he had more important matters to deal with. "Then you'll have no problem keeping up!"

To Lilith's surprise, the hedgehog charged right at her then, his body turning into a rapidly spinning buzz-saw of quills that flew through the air. She stepped aside with ease, following swiftly as 

he carved through the stone and up the wall. Flying after him, Lilith swooped to the side and back as one of the crystals jutting from the wall blocked her way, but as soon as she moved, Sonic bounced off the wall, uncurling and spinning like a corkscrew down at her. Hitting the bat full on, Sonic pinned her back to the very crystal she'd just dodged. Moving as fast as he could, Sonic then jumped off the winded bat and grabbed her wings, flopped to the side and hanging over either side of the crystal. Grabbing them as he fell, he used them as anchors to pull himself to the wall. "W…nnnnngh! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Lilith hissed shrilly, struggling to pull her wings out of his grip to no avail.

"Hey, you're the one who 'knows EVERYTHING about me', right? You tell me!" Sonic replied light-heartedly, exulting in the rush of the action.

He worked swiftly and efficiently, taking Lilith's wings and holding them together under the bottom of the crystal. _"Now I just need something to hold 'em together…"_ he thought desperately, wishing he'd thought ahead this far and honestly more than a bit surprised he'd even managed to GET to this point.

Holding himself to the crystal (and Lilith's squirming wings together) with one hand, he reached to the back of his head and, with a swift yank, pulled out one of his quills. Without thinking about it too long, he jabbed the quill through the tips of both wings, skewering them together. "RAGH!!" Lilith gave a pained cry.

Sonic let himself fall back to the ground, a lot less smoothly than he would've hoped; hitting the ground on a knee and an ankle. Groaning a bit as his body's wounds surged to the front at his awkward landing, he shook it off and went to Sally, who still lay unmoving right where she'd been when he'd arrived. _"That's not gonna hold Lil forever…"_ he thought, _"so I'd better take this chance and get us out of here while I can!"_

He lifted her into his arms, and for a brief moment he felt a familiar surge of warmth pulse through his body. He saw her…younger, a bit, him too…just like this, only awake…in his arms…they were running…running together. The simple pleasure of having her with him…of being two alone against the world together…he could remember it so clearly in that moment it all but knocked him out. He could remember watching those times…those feelings…slip away into an endless maze of twists and turns. Guilt…deep, destructive, overwhelming guilt…now more than ever, looking at the one whom he'd hurt most with his choice, he was all too aware of THAT feeling as well. Gulping down the welling emotions in his body as best he could, Sonic turned his gaze back down the tunnel he'd come from. "I don't know if you can hear me, Sal…" he whispered to her as he took off, unsure of where he could go but knowing he had to take the Princess to safety SOMEHOW, "…but…I'm sorry. I'm SO sorry for letting you down…for turning my back on you when you needed me most, for all the stuff I've put you through…but I'm going to get you out of here. If you CAN hear me, know that for a fact: I'm gonna get you out of here, Sally."

He couldn't bring himself to say the last part, but it was there in his thoughts nonetheless: _"Because I love you…"_

X X X

_Darkness._

_"Ahhhhhh…how I've missed the intoxicating turmoil of your innermost thoughts…"_

_A voice, reveling in her confusion and misery…_

_"You cannot escape from me now, Child."_

_A feeling of defiance, sorrow, rage…mixing together like a storm out at sea._

_"Even now…when your distance from the void between worlds keeps your waking mind safe…I can find you in your dreams."_

_A sense of familiar fear._

_"Yessssssssss…fear, my child. Defy me, rage against the world, despair at the hopelessness of your situation…let me taste the wondrous dissonance that forever dooms your kind."_

_Eyes. Burning red eyes within a demonic skull. Daxis. _

_Sally knew this dream…the dream that had haunted her sleep at the start of all this. Now, however, it had changed. She was no longer the voiceless observer, her enemy no longer implacable. This was something else, something more…lucid. "Taste all you want," she answered him harshly. "It's as close to returning to this world as you will EVER come."_

_Laughter. Not hers, his, and it was almost unbearable to hear. "You still defy me?" Daxis replied, amused. "I've felt you buckling under the weight of this battle, Child. I have heard you shriek and plead for mercy, for escape, for RELEASE from this nightmare…and you still believe you have the will to DEFY ME?"_

_"Yes." It was her sole answer. It was all she needed, because she knew it was true: no matter how great the pain, no matter how heavy the weight, she would continue to defy him until every fiber of her being faded away into nothingness._

_The skull did not move, but somehow looking at it gave the feeling of a smile on its bony form. "Then you are deluding yourself. You gave up this fight before you even came to this temple, my Child…if you hadn't, we would not be here."_

_Sally's curiosity was plain in her thoughts, and so Daxis knew of it instantly. "Do you remember my exact words on the day we made the Blood Pact, Child? I said to you, '__when your spirit tires of the living world, you shall return the gift to me'. The gift was my life-force…the piece of my own soul I had placed into yours to allow my revival. If I have come to claim that gift, than there is but one explanation as to why: you have at last lost your connection to the world of the living."_

_There was a feeling of fresh fear in her thoughts, but somehow Sally's resolution remained. "I will admit, I gravely underestimated your resilience," Daxis intoned sternly, "In the face of devastating losses, tumultuous upheavals, and all manner of catastrophe, you managed to stand strong. My eyes in the Order watched, waiting for that moment…the ONE moment we needed, when your heart lost its ties to life and my gift could be returned. Only it did not come. Days turned to weeks turned to months, and it did not come."_

_Daxis' "smile" seemed to fade as Sally felt an odd surge of…confidence…at his words. He was quick to try and stomp it out. "Then, however…your beloved Hedgehog vanished, and things began to change. Your friends began to withdraw from you …they all had their own lives to worry about. Your parents were too busy caring for the People to care about you. Your beloved Hedgehog was GONE. So in turn did you dedicate yourself to the Mission, to the Kingdom. Your heart weakened in that time…the resilience that had shielded you for so long was finally breaking."_

_A burning, raging heat surrounded Sally's thoughts as Daxis continued, "But STILL it was not enough. STILL you found the strength to cling to this world…"_

_The fire cooled. "Yet it no longer mattered. We knew your weakness now, the key to releasing my gift from you. When your beloved Hedgehog returned at last, we knew our opportunity was at hand. We took him from you. We severed the last tie you had to this world, and for one moment…one brief, fleeting moment…all connection you had to this world was lost."_

_"One moment was all you needed…" Sally finally spoke up, no longer willing to listen to the Forbidden Walker 's ranting. "That's why you had Sonic attack me…you wanted to shatter the bond between us…the LAST one I still had in full…by making us enemies, and for a single moment it worked."_

_Again, Sally sensed Daxis' glee, a feeling that was beginning to seem positively alien to the Princess. She could remember the very moment they spoke of, that one moment where everything felt like it had come undone. She had resolved herself to fix things in the end, to do her duty as Princess and Freedom Fighter and protect the world, but it did not change the truth: when Sonic had come into Knothole with Lilith that day, confronted her as an enemy...Everyone else in her life had withdrawn into their own worlds: Tails still struggled to prove himself an adult, and had begun to break away from Sally as a result; Knuckles was busy training to regain his strength, to the ignorance of everything else; and her family...sometimes Sally wondered if they were EVER really around when she needed them. Sonic, however…somehow, his absence only made her heart fonder. There was never a moment she doubted he would return, and that gave her hope. That hope was shattered when he returned, however. It was an almost-sickening irony to think of it like that, but there it was. Then, when he'd attacked her at the Lake of Rings…that was the breaking point. That was the point at which Sally felt like there was just no hope left for her anymore, that happiness was a goal she simply was not MEANT to achieve. It was a supreme sort of resignation, the ultimate surrender. In the end, of course, she had pushed it away, had overcome it to rise again. Yet that surrender…that hopelessness…still slept at the back of her thoughts, underlying her actions. "Mmmmmmmmmm…yesssssssssss…its taste is faint, but clear…" Daxis' booming voice echoed across her dream-world, reminding her of his presence. "I do wish the void between worlds _

_had been opened when the Hedgehog had come for you…ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh how I would have RELISHED such perfect despair…"_

_Sally steeled herself against his taunting exultations. "I already told you…" Sally growled, "tasting is all you get, Daxis."_

_"For now, Child…for now…" Daxis chuckled darkly. _

X X X

"OK. So. Now what?" Sonic asked himself.

He'd returned to the opening room of the hallway where he and Sally had fought earlier. It was, of course, a dead end, and Sonic knew it well (TOO well for his liking). Of course, he had no idea where ELSE to go. This was his best bet, it was just a matter of figuring out how to get through the wall. He could try burrowing, he supposed, but crystal was awfully hard to cut through, and more importantly, he had no idea what the actual distance between the Temple's buried rooms actually WAS or which way to go to reach one. He was too used to travelling through the Temple by way of the Order's Magic. He was no longer PART of the Order, however, and so such power was lost to him. _"Or at least…I think it is…"_ he mused to himself.

There was no way to know for sure…well, except one. It was a long-shot, but maybe…

"Enpo Os We Ssap…" Sonic whispered repeatedly as he lifted his hand toward the wall before him.

Yet he withdrew his hand and grew silent as the wall began to throb and pulse; someone else was passing through it! Taking a step back, Sonic's grip on Sally's unconscious body tightened. _"Whoever decides to mess with me right now is in for a LOT of trouble…"_ he thought resolutely.

Soon, a figure emerged…SEVERAL figures, actually. Sonic was soon face-to-face with three Spider-Ninjas (those guys who had attacked him earlier, he realized), Rotor, Hershey, a more-than-slightly-irritated-looking Julie-Su, Tails, an EXTREMELY beaten up Knuckles, and Geoffrey St. John. It was only when the skunk took a fighting stance, crossbow raised, that the hedgehog suddenly realized just how this had to look to the others.

_"Perfect. Just PERFECT…"_ he thought bitterly.

**To Be Continued…**


	10. All Fall Down

Author's Note: ANOTHER update! I'm on FIRE, baby! With any luck at all, I'll have this finished by the end of the summer; that's far from a guarantee, mind you, but it IS my intended goal. Anyway, sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy.

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Ten: All Fall Down

"What did you do to her?"

"This isn't what it looks like…well, I mean, I guess that depends on what you think it looks like, but…"

"We've been looking everywhere for you 'n' Sally, Sonic!"

"What's…why is there a _scar _on your chest?"

"What did you DO?"

"Geoff, calm down…just keep it together …"

"Should've known you'd cause us trouble even when we found ya…"

"Is she OK? How hurt is she?"

"For the last time, WHAT DID YOU DO?"

A dozen different voices tumbled all over one another, each trying to reach the other, all meeting with only limited success. The tension was growing and growing as they all tried harder and harder to be heard, and a single arrow stood aimed at Sonic's chest through it all. Geoffrey had been…surprised…at just how badly the rush of emotions had hit him when he saw the sight of Sally…limp, bleeding, and bruised in the hedgehog's arms. He had felt a grudge that had once been all but forgotten rekindle itself in his heart. Taking aim with his crossbow had occurred almost instinctually. It was all he could do not to pull the trigger then and there. If Hershey was not at his side, doing her very best to keep him calm, he very well might have. Instead, he took control of the situation, cutting through all the other voices and demanding answers as forcefully as he could. The others were all silenced by the skunk's commanding voice, leaving just him…and Sonic. "What. Did. You. Do?" Geoffrey repeated one last time, doing his best to keep the angry tremble out of his voice.

Sonic's eyes could not meet Geoffrey's, turning to the ground in sullen resignation. Knuckles, however, was not so willing to surrender. "Back off, Geoffrey," he said sharply, moving in front of the skunk and blocking him from Sonic, ignoring the sharp pain in his sides at his swift motions. "You've jumped to conclusions about Sonic before, it'd be pretty stupid to do it again."

"Knux…"

The echidna turned (slowly, this time) to face Sonic as he spoke. He'd never seen the hedgehog look so…sullen…before. "Don't…" Sonic said, and again the echidna felt himself unsettled by the surprising melancholy in his voice. "I know you're trying to defend me, but…just…don't."

While Knuckles felt confusion mix with frustration in his mind, Tails took a tentative step forward. "Sonic…?" he spoke softly. "What's going on?"

The Blue Blur's eyes glanced up at the fox briefly, but quickly returned to the floor. "It's a long story…I screwed up, Big Guy. I screwed up REALLY bad…"

With a deep sigh, Geoffrey finally lowered his arm. "Thanks…" Hershey whispered to him.

"Don't thank me yet, luv…" he answered likewise. "You never know what might happen…"

The cat gave him a soft shove; it was a joking gesture on her part, but she knew he was not joking at all. Ignorant of their conversation, Tails brushed past them both. "What…what do you mean?" he asked, finding it hard to keep his eyes from watering; Sally looked like she was in bad shape, and Sonic was not much better…

"I can't explain now," Sonic replied hastily, finally managing to tear his gaze from the floor and lock it onto the Arachne. Seeing the bloodied kunai one of them held in his hand, he found a memory…a memory of that OTHER life he'd led…flash before him. These really WERE the same Arachne who had attacked him before. "You three…" he said to them as calmly as he could, "You're how they got in, right?"

All eyes turned to the spiders. For a moment, none of them answered. It was as if they were waiting for…something. "Hello?" Sonic snapped sharply; there was no TIME for this! "Anybody home?"

"Y…yes. We…we're the ones who got them in…" one of the ninjas stammered haltingly, causing Tails and Geoffrey both to take notice; when had the Arachne become so unfocused?

"Then you can get us out." The hedgehog said, stepping toward the spiders, keeping his eyes focused squarely on them; he was afraid to look at any of the others.

The three ninjas all shared strange, awkward glances at each other. "Everything OK?" Tails asked, feeling an odd concern for the trio.

"The darkness of this place is…overwhelming…" one of them, a different one from before, spoke up. "I…I am no longer connected to my brothers, or the Source of All."

Sonic raised his brow in confusion and frustration; did they REALLY have time for this? "Look, can ya get us out or not?" he asked impatiently.

"Y…yes, it should still be within my…um, our…power to do so…" the third ninja spoke.

"Then we should get going right now," Rotor said. "Sally looks like she's in bad shape; she'll need medical attention, Sonic too."

No one argued the point, and before long the group had begun to move back toward the wall they had come from. That was when Sonic's entire body trembled with a familiar feeling…the sense of something approaching them…something powerful and dangerous. _"It's gotta be…"_

"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" he shouted, pressing himself to the side of the room.

Tearing down the crystalline hallway bolted a sphere of shimmering blackness. With only seconds between its appearance and its impact, the group dodged out of the way as best as they could. Once the sphere hit the back wall, however, all bets were off. The explosion was fierce and fiery, sending waves of smoke and force that had everyone reeling. Knuckles in particular found himself hit hardest by the sheer fury of the blast, falling to his feet with a pained shout, though it was hard to hear over the roar of the explosion. "KNUX!!" Julie-Su shrieked over the din, watching through the smoke as he fell.

"Hm hm hm…so nice to see you all again…" a silky smooth voice taunted as the after-effects of the mysterious assault faded.

_"Damn it…DAMN IT…"_ Sonic cursed mentally as he slowly removed himself from the safety he'd achieved earlier. _"I thought I bought more time than THIS…"_

Knuckles likewise let his thoughts run wild with every swear and condemnation he could think of at his perceived show of inexcusable weakness. All that, however, was forcefully put on hold as a thin scraping sound echoed across the area. "Ah. So THIS is how you all got in…"

With a predator's gait, Lilith walked toward the scattered and shocked group. In her hand, she held the bloodied Kunai. Even as the Arachne realized it must have slipped away from them during the confusion, the bat clenched the blade in her hand. Slowly, she dragged her tongue across its dull side, giving a soft moan at the familiar taste. "Mmmmmmm…I'd forgotten how delectable your blood was, Blue…" she whispered softly.

Sonic visibly paled. _"I've tasted your SOUL…"_ That was what she'd been talking about before…

A look of implacable rage then appeared on Lilith's face as she squeeeeeeeeeezed, and with a CRACK, the knife broke into pieces. "And now, you will NEVER get out…"

"I…I know you…" Tails whispered softly, the first to recover from the shock of the attack. "You're…you're that bat Sonic was with before…"

"Tails…" Sonic hissed warningly, already able to sense the anger boiling beneath the fox's voice.

"This is YOUR fault…" the fox growled.

Lilith grinned, clearly amused at the boy's reaction, but otherwise barely paying attention to him. Her eyes roved across the group, assessing each one as they began to overcome their fatigue. The Guardian would normally have been the biggest problem, but in his injured, weakened state, he was in fact among the least of her worries. Indeed, the bat could sense a familiar longing inside of the echidna…a need for strength that reminded her of a certain hedgehog's desire to be free. Something she would DEFINITELY keep an eye on for the future…as for the others…the Arachne were clearly incompetent, and the rest were mere Mobians…only Blue, the Chosen One, and the unconscious Child of the Source posed any real threat to her now, and they would be easy enough to deal with.

"You hurt my family!"

Tails now stood in the center of the hallway, glaring fiercely at Lilith, who only grinned wider. "Please…" she scoffed. "Do you…"

Whatever she intended to say was never heard. To everyone's surprise, including his own, Tails tackled the bat with all the strength he could muster.

"CHOSEN ONE!" the Arachne all shouted, their individual cries toppling over one another.

"Tails, NO!!" Sonic yelled, knowing the danger his little brother was putting himself in all too well.

Lilith and Tails forcefully fell to the ground. Landing on her back, the bat's sinister smile returned. "Ooh hoo hoo, you are SO going to regret that…" she hissed sadistically at Tails, baring her sharp fangs.

The rush of anger that had driven him to attack was still there in Tails' quickly-beating heart, but he no longer knew what to do with it. He'd never been violent against anyone before in his life, usually relying on wits and cunning to defeat his enemies. Lilith, however, knew violence quite well, and kneed Tails in the stomach without hesitance. As he doubled over on top of her, she followed up by thrusting her hand palm-first into his face, knocking the boy onto his back. "TAILS!!" Sonic roared as his friend coughed and sputtered in pain.

Laying Sally's motionless body against the wall (and trying his best not to think too long about the fact that her breath seemed to be getting shallower and shallower by the second), he immediately took action. Running toward her at top speed, the hedgehog shouted, "Leave him alone! I'M the one you want, remember?"

Flipping onto her feet, the bat prepared to step out of the way. However, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her side, feeling a gust of wind pass by. Before she could realize what had happened, Sonic rammed into her, slamming her into the wall with all the force his weary body could muster. "Good shot, Geoff…" Hershey congratulated her husband as they both prepared for a rough battle.

"Not good enough, apparently!" Geoffrey replied, reloading even as Lilith knocked Sonic away from her. "She's still moving!"

With an enraged shriek, Lilith pressed her attack, nailing Sonic in the side of the face with a harsh punch, kneeing him in the stomach, then slamming her foot into his face before turning her wrathful gaze upon the others. Sonic collapsed to the ground with a pained grunt, panting wildly and finding it a struggle to move. Meanwhile, Knuckles, knees feeling weak and ready to give out beneath him, nevertheless immediately moved to where Sally was, standing protectively in front of her. Geoffrey and Hershey prepared to move in to help him, but with surprising speed, the bat dashed past them, claws raised for attack. A beam of energy suddenly cut through the air, stopping Lilith in her tracks mere inches from the Guardian. "Back off, lady, he's with me!" Julie-Su shouted, firing another round of laser fire at her enemy.

Lilith covered herself in the black leather of her wings to shield herself, backing away from Knuckles. Beneath her cover, however, her hands wrapped themselves around each other, pulling apart to create strands of electricity between them. Even as Julie-Su prepared to fire again, the bat's wings flowed open, revealing the shimmering sphere of blackness in her hands. Recognizing the energy from before, Knuckles leapt into action immediately. Roaring in a mixture of pain and defiance, he wrestled Lilith's arms downwards just as the sphere was let loose. It crashed into the ground, igniting into a storm of light, noise, and flame. The proximity of the explosion only made its impact worse, sending everyone, Lilith included, flying about the hallway. Sally's limp body, meanwhile, stirred…

X X X

_The dream was empty. Not even Daxis' voice filled it. There was just…nothing. Not even thoughts, though there were so many Sally had buzzing about in her mind even if this blank world refused to let her express them. What was going to happen now? Why had she not yet awoken? Who would be there when she did? "Why is Daxis leaving me alone?"_

_Suddenly, the dream became lucid again. Black was replaced with burning red, emptiness with sweltering heat. Daxis? No…no, this was different. This did not come from within her mind, but somewhere else…somewhere OUTSIDE of it! Something was happening…_

"_Your friends are in danger…"_

_Daxis. He'd taken an interest in her again, apparently. "Connected as we are by this dream, I can sense the world around you…the WAKING world. I sense their peril…"_

_Sally did not react. He was lying; she had no friends in this Temple…not even Sonic. Even if he was being honest, she would not give him the satisfaction of taking his bait. "Come now…surely the noble Princess Acorn wishes to protect her friends?" Daxis asked jeeringly._

_Still nothing. "If you do not believe my words…" Daxis growled, clearly annoyed at her stoic attitude when previously she had been far more…enjoyable, "Believe your senses…"_

_Sally felt her eyes opening, even though she could also feel them remain closed. It was as if she was looking through a filter of fire…the world before her was bright and glowing, crackling with life. There was something wrong, though…this wasn't the room she had fallen unconscious in. How had she moved? Why was she not in…wait. There, rising from smoke and debris…it was Lilith! Collapsed all around her, Sally realized, there were others. Through the glare of the light and the obscuring smoke, it was hard to make them out at first, but…yes! Knuckles, Geoffrey, Hershey, Rotor, Julie-Su…they were all here. How? When? Suddenly the Princess felt her focus sharpening…all her friends…they really WERE here. To save her...? "How very touching…"_

_Daxis' shadow tainted the shimmering light, the gold twisting into red. "Mmmmmmmm…I can just IMAGINE the sensations I'll taste when you watch them alllllllllllllll DIE…"_

_Crimson vision stayed unwavering, but Sally felt his fearful presence washing against her. She felt the whispers of death he promised in her ear, and then…one last shape came to view. Laying upon the floor, behind the others…it was Tails. The fox coughed in the smoke as his body wearily rose, and Sally felt old habits surge through her, felt herself wanting to stroke his cheek and hold him in her arms 'til he'd finished coughing…and then the fox was in Lilith's arms, mouth open as if howling in pain. She was hurting him! The others…they were too tired to help! "Hm hm…seems I won't have to wait long…" that loathsome laughter crooned smugly._

"_No…" _

_Sally's voice spoke now, soft and scared, and the red again began to twist around. Daxis…she could see his eyes now, feel his presence all the sharper as her emotions heightened. "I won't let them be hurt…"_

"_No, of course you won't…" _

_It was not mocking. It was, in fact, almost encouraging. Within the center of all her vision…Tails, still held in Lilith's crushing grip…the blood glow began to focus and form. A sphere…a heartbeat…it was power. HIS power. She'd felt it before, when she'd broken away from Sonic earlier. Overwhelming, cold, terrifying…and yet…_

"_You'll save them…like you always do…"_

_He WANTED her to take it, Sally realized… it brought her closer to him. Lilith's grip was tightening…Tails was DYING…and her body refused to act, no matter how hard the squirrel tried to make it. It was all happening again, just like before. The Princess, wounded and weak while her friends were in need, and Daxis, offering her the power to save them all at the cost of her soul. "You've already chosen, Child, many times before…" the Walker told her. "You know that, in the end, you will always choose them over yourself, no matter the cost."_

_He was right. The only problem was, taking his power was dangerous to her friends too…because HE was dangerous to them, and this act would clearly help HIM as much as it helped THEM. "You're right about one thing…" Sally said, and her voice was no longer helpless but vibrant…confident. "I will ALWAYS protect the people I care about…"_

_She reached into the red, the fire, the POWER…she knew what she had to do._

X X X

Sonic really, REALLY wished he could rest…just…curl up into a ball and take a little nap. A couple minutes, that would be all he needed. Of course, as Tails' agonized coughs and sputters hit his ears, he knew that was simply not an option. He'd screwed up bad enough by setting this whole situation off, he was NOT about to let his little brother DIE for that mistake! The problem, however, was that after two straight days of some of the fiercest fighting he'd ever experienced, the hedgehog was more than a touch _fatigued_. Nevertheless he tried to get up _one last time_, because that was what he needed to do. The others had all been knocked unconscious by the blast…he was the only one who could help Tails, and that was what he was going to…

"URK!!"

For a brief, terrifying moment, Sonic thought he had just heard Tails' dying breaths. Yet soon, he realized it had not been Tails' voice, but…Lilith's? Relieved and confused at the same time, the hedgehog watched as Lilith's arms unwrapped from around Tails, causing the boy to fall to the ground, coughing heavily. Lilith twitched and sputtered as if in pain, arms falling limply to the sides of her body even though she remained standing. Sonic, crawling over to Tails' side and putting his arm gently upon the boy's shoulder, could only watch in fear and awe. As he got closer, he saw that someone was standing behind Lilith…hand held to the back of the bat's head, frightening crimson aura surrounding her body…

"…Sally…?" Sonic whispered, almost unable to believe it.

He had seen her like this before, briefly…when he'd still been that other person, when they'd fought before…it had scared him THEN too. Her eyes were pure, empty black, and the hedgehog realized this was the first time he'd seen those eyes at all since he'd broken free of the Order; poor circumstances for that, to say the least. _"What is she DOING to Lil?"_ Sonic wondered, watching the bat writhe with repressed sympathy.

Whatever it was, it soon stopped. The glow around Sally's body flickered and vanished, while Lilith crumpled to her knees, giving one last gasp before crashing fully to the ground out cold. Sally, meanwhile, took several steps backwards, the red energy appearing on and off again. The squirrel's hands rested upon either side of her forehead, eyes clenched shut in concentration and pain. She'd dipped into the power, knowing it would rouse her body to action, but now…now she had to get rid of it, cut the link before it was too late.

"A…Aunt Sally?" Tails wheezed, looking up at the Princess.

She leaned against the wall, hands still gripping her temples. Dear Goddess, it _hurt_, trying to drive this energy back where it belonged. She still heard Tails' voice, however, and that meant it was worthwhile. He was safe. _"A temporary state…"_

Daxis. His face was like a firebrand in her mind, pressing tighter and tighter. _"Your kind are all so very predictable, Child,"_ he laughed at her, and the burning grew that much hotter. _"Shortsighted, ignorant, thrashing about wildly just to survive a little bit longer…you make the same mistakes over and over and never learn from them."_

It was impossible to block the voice out. It felt impossible to resist the ever-tightening grip his presence held in her body. She still tried. _"You cannot escape this, Child…you cannot escape ME. What is written in Blood can never be…"_

Daxis' voice fell silent as Sally felt hands touch her shoulders. "Sally! SALLY!!"

Someone calling to her…a voice the Princess had not heard in a long time, had thought she would never hear again…she was being shaken, and the world began to feel real around her again. Then her eyes opened, and she was gazing at a familiar face. "C'mon, Sal, snap out of it!" Sonic the Hedgehog pleaded desperately, shaking the squirrel as vigorously as he could.

Sonic…? For a brief moment, his presence comforted Sally, but then she remembered…she remembered it ALL.

_"I'm sorry, Sal…I can't…"_

_"There's no discussion about it, Sal. You screwed up big."_

_"I knew it was a good idea to track you down…this will be the perfect game…"_

_"That I could ever feel anything for a controlling, vindictive ball-and-chain like you besides disgust?"_

Suddenly, the fire resurged. Daxis was staring into her again. Fear, sadness, anger, desperation…Sally's mind was wracked with a flood of emotions, and the crimson glow returned, brighter than ever. The world outside her mind began to fade away again. "SAL!" Sonic shouted in surprise as her body lit up…it was burning hot to his touch, but he did not let go.

_"You see now, Child? There is no way out…in the end, you are already mine…"_

Still Sally struggled, but the pull was stronger now, the connection more solid. Without words or motions, her body began to melt away into the floor beneath her. Her eyes were tearing up, and Sonic looked at her with a look of sheer panic. "No, NO!" he roared, moving his hands down to her waist and pulling.

"Hang on, Sonic!" Tails cried, flying over to lend a hand.

Both pulled at the squirrel's body as hard as their bodies would allow, but still she continued to sink, and they found themselves sinking with her. All this played out like white noise to Sally, fading in and out of full consciousness. _"You fail yet again, Child. That is your destiny. That is my victory."_

Slowly but surely, despite Sonic and Tails' best efforts to avoid it, they fell through the ground…

X X X

_"AMODEUS!"_

The goat gasped in shock as his Master's voice rang in his mind. "Yes, my Lord?" he asked.

_"I have the Child in my grasp! Go to the Inner Sanctum, NOW! I cannot hold our connection forever!" _

Amodeus took only a moment to let the feelings sink in. It was finally time…time for this world to be tamed at long last. Time for Bach's sacrifice to pay off. Time for the old Gods who had forsaken him and his friends to realize their mistake. Hands clenching as his body felt a renewed surge of purpose rush through it, the Shaman whispered the words and melted into the ground, destined for the Inner Sanctum…and the rebirth of Lord Daxis.

X X X

_"So…it is happening."_

Alone in the midst of the pouring rain, the Source of All could sense the growing darkness in its Child's heart. At long last, she had reached a point of no return; after all the rises and falls she-and through her, the Source-had experienced, she had finally made the misstep Daxis had been waiting for. Trapped as it was in the limited form of the Sword of Acorns, the Source could take no direct action to help her. Yet it was far from helpless. _"My loyal warriors…my Children…have you done as I have told?"_

"Yes." Hundreds of voices answered in unison, though none were near the Source's physical being. "We have taken our webs to the destinations you have chosen."

_"Then prepare yourselves. The hour of reckoning is on hand, and we must be prepared to do all that is necessary to stop it."_

Spread out though they were over the surface of Mobius, the Source could sense the agreement of its loyal warriors. It almost made the omnipotent entity feel…sad, was the mortal word for it…for the spiders; their sacrifice would be great, but not in vain. With that resolution in mind, its focus turned to its Child's ever weakening spirit. _"You were strong, my Child…"_ it thought. _"But strength is not enough…against an enemy such as this…"_

X X X

Only moments ago, Sonic and Tails had been going down. It thus felt more than slightly disconcerting to find themselves rising_up_ out of the ground into an ominous, candle-lit room that looked like a shrine of some sort. Something strange rested in its center, a vortex of light floating over a strange altar, but neither of the two had time to give it much attention. Both were still pulling against Sally, even now; perhaps, somehow, they could get her to go backwards. "Come on, Aunt Sally!" Tails pleaded desperately, though his voice came out softer than he wanted it to. "You gotta wake up!"

Sonic too whispered anything and everything he could think of as their new location began to unfold around them. "Please, Sal…I'm sorry, I'm SO sorry, I woulda said 'yes' if I coulda, I swear I would've, please, Sal, please just wake up, I'll find a way to make it happen for us…"

It was a rush of words that he did not think over at all before saying. Stream of consciousness was all he had to give; it was all he had the strength for. Everything that had been building up around the hedgehog for days now, perhaps longer if he truly thought it over, was coming to a head. He could feel his grip on Sally's body loosening as the strength to hold on slowly drained away, the burning sensation only getting worse. "Ngh…c'mon, C'MON! You're stronger than this guy, Sal, I KNOW you are, you're the strongest person I've ever met and if that's not enough to beat this freak I don't know what is, but you gotta wake up, Sal, PLEASE! I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

For the briefest of moments, the Blue Blur thought he saw Sally's blank eyes turn slightly toward him…but it was cut short as he found his body flying away, crashing into a wall quite painfully. The same fate befell Tails not long after. "It seems keeping you alive was NOT a mistake after all…"

Sonic's bleary vision settled upon the blurred but instantly recognizable form of his former leader, Amodeus, hovering next to the vortex of light. "When your betrayal severed the Child's last tie to this world, I'd truthfully thought you'd be of no more use to us. Lilith's insistence that you remain part of the Order was all that kept you alive." The goat continued, descending to the ground and striding with deliberate confidence toward the incapacitated duo. "However…it seems you've managed to be useful to us again. Not only did you bring the Child back to us, but you've even brought the legendary Chosen One with you as well so that Daxis may eliminate the threat he might pose as soon as he returns."

At that, he lifted Tails' chin up with his staff, looking the boy over. "Hm...how fitting the treacherous Goddess should pick one so young to fight her battles…"

"Leave him alone…" Sonic growled threateningly.

Amodeus ignored him, slipping his staff out from under Tails' muzzle and moving instead to Sally, who simply stood still and straight, body glowing. "Her too!" Sonic added hastily, voice cracking as his attempt at menace fell clearly flat.

Unsurprisingly, the Shaman ignored him, instead waving his hand and causing the walls around them to reach out, hand-like, and place Sally upon the altar, where she merged again with its form. "At last…at long last…" he whispered softly as he spread his arms out. "The Ritual ends in Awakening…Ni Kenawag'in, Daxis L'ash'l Inodatem…"

The aura surrounding the Princess flared up brightly. **"Yes…"** a rumbling sound came from the vortex. **"YES…"**

Sonic gulped at the sound; it was like listening to death itself speak. This was him…this was Daxis…the one who wanted Sally, wanted to hurt his friends…the one who'd caused all the horrible things that had happened to him since the Order came into his life. _"And I can barely even MOVE...dammit all…"_ he thought bitterly, trying to find the strength that had always aided him so much in the past to get up one last time and fight.

Tails, however, was far less incapacitated. With Amodeus' back turned to him, he slowly began to sneak toward the Shaman with quiet steps. _"Good luck, Big Guy…"_ Sonic thought, still trying to get his body to stand up again so he could help.

Meanwhile, Sally's body now filled the sanctum with an eerie glow, looking for all the world as if she was bathed in crimson flame crackling and thrashing about. The void above her pulsed with hunger as Amodeus continued, hands motioning softly. Soon, the skull that had been placed upon Sally before was brought over to the goat on a stone hand from the wall. Taking it in hand, he returned it to the same spot it had been on the squirrel's body before. "Let this Avatar form your new body in the world of the Living…let it take the blood that has touched the Source of All and the glory of Daxis."

From his robes the goat produced a knife-Tails saw it had blood on it already as he snuck ever closer-and brought it down to Sally's forehead. As he dragged the blade across, cutting through fur and skin, Sally did not even squirm, but the flaming glow around her throbbed wildly. Amodeus than took the blade and placed its tip between the eye sockets of the skull on Sally's chest. "Rise again, Lord Daxis…live once more! Deliver this world from Evil and smite the wicked!"

A single drip of blood dribbled down the knife's edge and landed upon the skull. Eyes wide with excitement, he shouted joyously, "REVILER…"

_"No…"_ Sonic thought fearfully.

"LA'L…"

Tails leapt forward, stealth no longer an option.

"SIOM'BU…"

The aura exploded, sending waves of wind and energy that knocked Tails out of the air and right back where he'd started from. The single drop of blood began to expand and flow out upon the skull, crawling about as if alive.

"TEN'RUR, DAXIS!!"

The room filled with bright red as Sally's body arched upwards. Sonic and Tails both could only watch in horror as her blood seeped into the skull, making strange markings along its eye holes and snout. From within the vortex, tendrils of black reached out to the skull, slithering inside like serpents, while Sally's aura also converged upon it. "SALLY, NO!!" Sonic shouted in a panic, eyes tearing up as he realized what was happening to her…her life force was mixing with Daxis'…giving him something to feed on so he could break free and enter their world again through the Avatar…she was dying.

Blood dripped from the skull as it began to rise into the air, but rather than land upon the ground the drops hovered beneath it, growing larger and larger as crackles of black and red energy flowed into them. Mixing together again, they throbbed and bubbled, flowing out into a long, ominous cape. **"YES…"** the dark voice growled triumphantly, coming not only from the vortex but the skull as well, **"YES…AT LONG LAST…"**

From within the skull's sockets, two glowing flames of crimson appeared.

**"I LIVE AGAIN!!"**

**To Be Continued…**


	11. Collision

Author's Note:

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Eleven: Collision

_Sally had always imagined exactly how she would look when the time finally came that she would become Queen. She would be tall and powerful, garbed in a flowing blue cape, her father's robes fitted perfectly upon her body. The Sword of Acorns would always have its hilt in her hand, the Royal Crown comfortable upon her head. That was how she looked now: the perfect Queen, the Queen she had always dreamed of being. Her kingdom stretched on into eternity, its fields dotted with years of memories. Her family and friends, her triumphs and defeats, the moments she had always treasured and the ones she wished she could forget…all of it lay out there across the horizon for her to see. "This is…my Kingdom…" she whispered._

_Streaks of black tore through the air above, rips in the serene portrait around her. She realized then that she was not alone, that standing at her side was the one from whom that darkness stemmed. __**"This WAS your Kingdom, Child…now, however, it must fall so mine can rise…"**_

_He faced away from where Sally looked, eyes fixed on a different horizon. The Queen turned to see what he saw in the gaping black that began to crack and slither about all over. Within the shadows, Sally saw it…saw eyes of red gazing down happily at a world untainted and fresh, healed after eons of desolation. That gaze turned from one of joy to one of sorrow, however, as the purity was spoiled by…things. Wretched little…THINGS…crawling about on the surface, through the air, in the sea of the fresh world. __**"Mother…what are those THINGS crawling about on OUR world?"**_

_This was HIS past, Sally realized…Daxis' past…_

_**"Those are the ones we are meant to protect, my Child, and Mobius is just as much their world as it is ours." **__A voice…the most wonderful, perfect sound Sally had ever heard…spoke to the eyes that looked down on the young Mobius, though who said it could not be seen._

_There was a strange sadness in those eyes now as they watched over hundreds…thousands…millions…billions of years as life grew and spread across the planet. The green became browner, the blue became blacker, and all around the world the crawling things made their mark. It was disgusting to watch…and then Sally's eyes were forcefully torn away from that world back to the decaying symbol of her own existence, back into the burning red of Daxis in the present. __**"Do not throw your last moments of life away on things better left unknown to you…"**__ the Walker growled in a voice that seemed more powerful now than ever before. __**"Not when you have so little time left to exist…"**_

_The Queen's cape began unraveling at the seams, its strands flying off into the ether. Sally could feel a terrifying emptiness beginning to…crawl…through her, like snakes under her skin…while before her very eyes a new vision grew more and more whole. Daxis looked as he had in the waking world, a mere skull, but now the skull was marked with blood-hers, Sally could tell-and beneath it a body was forming. It was like water rising from below, globs merging together to form more cohesive wholes, the promise of unfulfilled life in their shimmering shapes. __**"I must thank you, Child." **__Daxis said. __**"Without you, I would have been doomed to spend eternity in that…non-world...stripped of the glory of life without the relief of death. Now, however, I can rise again and re-claim what is rightfully mine."**_

___It was strange to listen to those words, because laced though they were with the ominous threat of what the Walker would do with his returned life, they were still…sincere. It was not only his original goals for Mobius that Daxis wanted, but his freedom as well. Could it be that this sacred being had, in fact, been…frightened…of its captivity? That as much as he believed himself separate from them, Daxis was not all that different from the people of Mobius? __**"As I said,"**__ Daxis' voice harshly cut into her thoughts, __**"Best not to worry yourself over matters that no longer concern you."**_

_"Until I'm completely gone…" Sally said, quivering slightly as the emptiness wrapped its cold touch higher and higher up her form, "what happens to Mobius still concerns me."_

_The Walker made no reply. His eyes simply gazed long and hard at Sally, as if taunting her with silence. All the while, the body beneath those eyes gained more and more form. Unsure, frightened, and confused, the Queen could only stand and watch it happen. Somewhere, from out of the ever-fading world of memories that surrounded her, she heard years of voices calling her name as if in desperation…_

_"Sally…"_

_"Sally…"_

_"Sally…"_

X X X

"Sally…"

Sonic's pained grunt was so soft as to go all but unheard amidst the din; the criss-crossing streams of energy flowing around the room crackled like thunder, and the entire room trembled as if an earthquake shook its very foundations. Yet Sonic, no longer able to wait for his body to feel strong enough to walk, crawled across the floor regardless of the chaos around him. Watching Sally float in the air like a puppet on strings, her body writhing as if in horrid pain, while all the while that…that THING…fed off her life-force…it was too much to bare. A man of action as always, Sonic thus braved the strange storm that stirred all around to reach the squirrel. As he was, he knew there was probably very little he could actually DO when he got to her, but dammitall he had to be by her side for this, no matter how little sense it made! _"I ain't lettin' ya go that easy, Sal…"_

Tails, meanwhile, remained sprawled across the ground. He wished he could be by Sonic's side, helping Sally any way he could, but try as he might the young fox simply could not muster the strength to even crawl. That did not stop him from trying, however. It also did not make him call to the hedgehog to wait; Tails knew there was no time for that now. There was only time to watch, to hope that somehow this could end with everyone he cared about still OK. The ever-increasing roar of a world falling apart around the boy, however, made that a hard hope to sustain. It made him sick to look up into the torrents of red and black, to see Aunt Sally floating there like that…like she was being taken away from the world. _"Sonic…please…"_ he thought…pleaded…as if the hedgehog could read his mind. _"Don't let this happen…"_

If Amodeus, kneeled before the altar in wide-eyed worship, noticed Sonic's slow crawl, he did not show it. Instead, he watched with awe and respect, whispering prayers and invocations under his breath. It was hard for the shaman to fully absorb the fact that this was happening…that the mission he had pursued so fervently for so long was finally being fulfilled. Tears streamed freely down his face. It was beautiful. _"Bach, my friend…I wish you could see this…"_ he thought joyously.

Crawl…crawl…crawl…it hurt, badly, but Sonic kept it going. Crawl…crawl…crawl…almost there now. The skull…Daxis…its form was changing further. The cape had grown longer now, to the point where it was like an entity unto itself. Shoulder blades of pure bone protruded from its upper corners, with a similar collar of sorts hovering directly beneath the skull. It was a disgusting sight to Sonic, but one that only spurred him to crawl that much harder. **"Still trying to interfere, I see…"**

The double-voice, speaking both from within the void of light that was the center of this catastrophe and Daxis' still-forming body, took all three Mobians by surprise. It brought Tails' attention to Amodeus, Amodeus' attention to Sonic, and Sonic's attention to Daxis. The ground beneath Sonic shifted, and he soon found himself tossed into the air, only to stop as stone from above slinked down and snapped onto his ankle like a bear trap, causing the hedgehog to howl in pain. "Sonic…" Tails whispered fearfully.

The hedgehog wriggled about in the stone's grip as much as he could, grunting and growling angrily all the while. **"I am awake now, Little 'Hero'…" **Daxis' voices rumbled frighteningly as his still-forming body turned its burning eyes on Sonic, **"You cannot sneak past me so easily."**

Thrashing about angrily, leg still stinging from the stone's grip, the hedgehog spat back, "You talk big, but if you were REALLY as powerful as you say, you wouldn't have spent a gajillion years taking a NAP!"

Daxis' skull seemed to sneer as shoulder blades of pure bone emerged from within his flowing red cape. Sonic felt himself turned around as the stone shifted on his aching leg. With a gasp of surprise, he found himself facing Sally's motionless floating body. **"And what of your beloved Princess, 'Hero'?" **Daxis asked mockingly. **"Look at where HER strength has led you all…look at the 'good' SHE'S done…"**

Sonic tried not to pay attention to the booming twin-voice, instead focusing on Sally. _"Maybe…maybe if I touched her…"_ he rationalized desperately, _"Maybe that'd wake her up…if I can just…"_

He reached out to her, fingers stretching as far as they could go. Reeeeeeeeeeach…reeeeeeeeeeach…only to come up short. Taking a deep breath, Sonic steadied himself and focused. **"You waste your energy, 'Hero'." **Daxis grunted nonchalantly. **"The Child is already gone…you look only upon the empty shell that remains."**

"I DON'T BELIEVE THAT!" Sonic shouted back, reaching again…close…so _close_…but again his touch came just short. "Sal's a MILLION times stronger than YOU, Bonehead! She ain't beat yet, 'n' neither are we!"

He began to swing himself, pendulum-like, toward the levitating squirrel. A normal person might have found it odd to expend so much effort for such a small and seemingly insignificant task and chosen to simply let it go. Sonic, however, was not now nor would he ever be quite normal. The thought occurred to him, certainly. It just never deterred him. Somehow…somehow touching Sally, even for a second, even just a tiny little bit…that just seemed _important _to the hedgehog right then. Maybe it would achieve some greater good, somehow help break Sally's connection to Daxis before it was too late…maybe it would disrupt the Ritual in and of itself. More likely, however, it would give Sonic one last chance to feel the soft, familiar fur on Sally's body before all life was sucked away from it…one last reminder to whatever part of the squirrel remained that she was not alone in this world. Whatever the case, it was just something the hedgehog needed to do right then, right there. One…last…swing, and then…

"Sally!"

His fingers brushed lightly against her arm. Sonic stretched them out as long as they would go, trying to just…just hold on. Just for a minute. Just one minute, please…that was all he wanted…

X X X

_"It is time."_

The Source of All had gone countless eons without ever truly knowing the concept of the finite. It was ageless, the lifeblood of the planet. Death had no baring on its existence. Yet that had changed. When it had been forced to take refuge in the Sword of Acorns, it had known for the first time what those concepts meant. It was thus with a sense of true urgency that the Source had felt its Child's heart begin to pour out into the open world, fed to the Dark Walker. Action had to be taken, immediately. The Source would _not _be ended, it was determined on that front. _"Are you ready, my loyal warriors?"_

From their seven standing points spread out across the world, the Arachne all bowed in reverence and obedience. "We are ready." They responded in unison.

_"Then farewell, my loyal warriors…farewell to you all…"_

From within the Sword, what remained of the Source of All reached out through the webs the Arachne had dragged along with them throughout the world. Threads once all but invisible glowed bright gold as its essence flew across the world. _"And thank you."_

At the volcano, in the fields, on the beach, outside Robotropolis, within the crater, inside the cave, atop the mountains…all seven groups of Arachne saw the light flowing through their web. When it reached them, each and every one felt it pierce their very beings. Their eyes and mouth burst open as the Source moved within them, reaching out of their bodies like hands and into the environments surrounding them. The tendrils of light shimmered and throbbed as they tapped into the natural powers around them, shifting from gold into…red, green, blue, yellow, orange, black, silver…flowing back from the spiders and retracting through the webs. As the energy left, all the hundreds of Arachne fell dead to the ground, the life gone within them. They held no regrets. They had promised their lives to the Source, and the Source had collected on that pact. _"Now, Daxis…"_ the lifeblood thought as it felt the energies of nature surging toward it. _"Now I will show you the true power of the planet you wish to defile…"_

One after the other, the seven groups of webs ran their collected energies into the Sword of Acorns. _"I will show you why this world can never be yours."_

The blade shimmered with the light of the seven elements. Fire, Plant, Ocean, Lightning, Stone, Darkness, and Light…the seven chaotic powers which formed the world…the same Chaos that had given birth to the Source of All in the first place. Focused through the magnifying powers of the mystic Sword, the Source now wielded those elements as it had never been able to before. As it had been at the beginning of time, before the Chaos had been harnessed and the planet calmed, before it had been reduced to one form, this was how the Source had been: primal and all-powerful. Yet even as it felt the familiar return of its old powers, the lifeblood also felt the pull of that power's limits: it could not be both finite AND infinite. In this form, its very strength was too much bare. It had known from the beginning that this would happen, this clash between its current form and the one it had held long ago. That was why it had waited until the last possible minute to execute its plan…because now that it had begun, there was no turning back. The future it had once seen with great acuity was no longer clear. What would become of the Source from this point on was unknown…but that was all worth it to protect the Child. The Child HAD to survive. Daxis HAD to be stopped. No matter the cost. _"Aurora…"_ the Source mused to itself, _"if you can hear me…if you can see this…remember it all well. Remember the consequences of your son's actions…and of yours…" _

The Sword of Acorns glowed like a star at that point, bright enough to light the rain-filled sky. From every corner of the planet its radiance was visible. Cracks appeared in the steel of the blade as the light began to compact upon itself, forming a column of energy that shook the ground around it. With one last explosive burst, the column struck out into the sky like a bullet, and the Sword of Acorns shattered into a million pieces, its hilt melting away into nothing. The Source had been unleashed.

X X X

Knuckles' eyes snapped open suddenly. Something was happening, he could feel it in his bones. He could also feel deep, unmistakable fatigue. Nevertheless, with a pained grunt, he tried to rise up off the ground. "You…you guys…OK?" he asked hoarsely, surveying his fallen companions.

Even as the echidna waited for an answer, he noticed there were three friends missing. Three very important friends. _"Tails…Sonic…Sally…"_

"Ungh…w…what happened…?" Julie-Su groaned from nearby.

Knuckles sighed in relief. She, at the very least, was OK. The others, however, were not stirring, and he still saw no sign of Sonic, Sally, or Tails. "Dunno…" he answered Julie-Su's question honestly. "Last thing I remember is Lilith's…power…blowing up in our faces…"

Julie-Su was back on her feet in only a moment, and though he would never say so aloud, Knuckles was more than a touch aggravated at her ease of movement even as he struggled with his. "Sonic…Sally…'n' Tails…they're all gone." The Guardian continued, gritting his teeth as he lifted himself up as best he could.

"THEY might be," his soulmate mused, "but SHE'S not."

She slowly walked over to where Lilith lay face down upon the ground, unmoving. Poking the back of the bat's head with her laser rifle, the pink echidna pondered what, if it had been Lilith who had knocked her and others out, had knocked LILITH out. Looking over the bat's silver fur, she noticed…burn marks? It looked like five burn marks, spread out across the back of Lilith's head like a hand had been gripping it. "THAT's weird…" she mused aloud.

"Not after everything ELSE we've been through today…" Knuckles grumbled.

A brief twitch of movement in Lilith's wings caught both echidnas' eyes, and they were immediately on guard. Julie-Su pressed the nozzle of her rifle to the back of the bat's head in a heartbeat. "Don't. Move." She said lowly.

Surprisingly, Lilith obeyed, though it did not seem she had actually heard Julie-Su. Instead, her eyes seemed to be roving the cavern as if watching some invisible creature moving about, a sinister grin slowly forming on her face. "…gonna die…" she mumbled into the ground. "…alllllllllllllll of you…you're gonna die here…"

"What're you…"

The ground beneath them trembled. The crystalline walls shimmered with an eerie, ghostly glow. Soon, the entire room was shaking. Then…they appeared. Thick strands of black burst through the ground like demons from some horrid nightmare, tearing through the floor and roof. More and more appeared all around, thrashing about and ripping the stone above and below the bewildered echidnas to pieces. Weary as he was, Knuckles was slow to dodge, finding himself instead tossed around by the cracking stones. Julie-Su, meanwhile, leapt about as nimbly as she could, trying to keep her eyes watchful not only for Knuckles' safety but that of their still-unconscious team mates. Attention divided as it was, it was difficult for the pink echidna to keep full track of herself in the commotion. One leap later, she found herself flung back by one of the dark tendrils. Landing with a pained yelp, she watched in horror as the thick shadow seemed to curl, snake-like, down toward her. "JULIE-SU!" Knuckles cried out in a panic.

_"She's going to die! She's going to die, she's going to die, she's going to die, GET UP AND SAVE HER!!"_ his mind howled in fear and rage.

But he couldn't. He just…couldn't. No matter how much the Guardian did not want to believe it was true, all that time…all that training…it had been _meaningless. _ He'd survived the scrape with the Daboro purely by the skin of his teeth, while all the others had walked away far less harmed. He'd been acting like a petulant child trying to deny that fact, desperate to believe he was still useful, and now…now he couldn't get himself up when Julie-Su needed him most! Teeth gritted, hands clenched, eyes wide, Knuckles shrieked out as the shadow plunged down upon his soul mate…

_"FORGIVE ME!"_

…only to be torn apart as a stream of concentrated light poured down from above, piercing the darkness. This was it…this was the force Knuckles had sensed, the one that had awoken him. Watching in awe as it passed before, he could feel its power emanating toward him. A voice…faint but firm…echoed briefly through the Guardian's thoughts, but faded away so quickly he was barely sure he'd heard it at all. No matter what, however, Knuckles knew one thing: whatever power this was, he owed it a debt he would never be able to repay. Julie-Su was still alive…

X X X

Sonic's fingers brushed ever so briefly against Sally's arm…

Daxis' shoulder blades, their growth finalized, began to grow ethereal whisps of arms from within…

Sally's red strands of life grew thinner and thinner with each second, Daxis' black essence only growing stronger…

And then the piercing light of the Source crashed down into the middle of it all.

**"WHAT?!"**

Daxis' cry of confused rage came only milliseconds before the Source crashed down between his ever-growing body and Sally's form. The bonds of crimson and darkness that bound them both together trembled under the strain of this powerful new light, yet they did not break. **"You will NOT interfere!"** Daxis' twin voices howled out angrily, blood-red light crackling around his body.

_Sally's mental kingdom, still deteriorating as Daxis ate away at it piece by piece, found itself illuminated under a powerful formless light, one the Princess knew all too well. "You…" Sally whispered, unsure of what to make of this unexpected arrival. _

_Daxis, still forming before her, turned to the light with wrathful eyes. "Presumptious, arrogant BRAT…" The Source rumbled at him. "I am the Lifeblood of this world…I know well that your dark powers have no place here!"_

"_**Lifeblood…HA!"**__ Daxis laughed bitterly. __**"Do not delude yourself… you have sat idly by, even HELPED these filthy creatures turn 'your' world into a war-torn wasteland! I will not be stopped by the likes of YOU!"**_

"_THEN WE BOTH DIE HERE!"_

_The light soon began to throb and spark, changing from a formless blob into a sharpened bolt that flared like the wildest of flames. It cracked down upon Daxis, blowing Sally back from the force of its impact. Despite such power, however, Daxis stood strong against the crushing waves of energy that pounded relentlessly against him. His crimson eyes flickered in concentration, his cloak fluttered wildly about (exposing the lack of body beneath it quite keenly), and his form was pushed back by the Source's attack. Yet the Walker did not yield. __**"Your time…is OVER, Source…"**__ he growled strenuously._

_Watching in a mixture of fear and awe, Sally saw that familiar ominous light shimmering around Daxis' body as he spoke. The Source continued to press upon him, its golden energies lashing out like lightning to and fro, a storm raging against Daxis with all its might. Yet the Walker's crimson aura only grew brighter…larger…fiercer. __**"You may be…this planet's lifeblood…"**__ he hissed,__** "but I…am this planet's…"**_

_The red light burst out, a wraith of energy streaming out of Daxis as if it were a living beast. __**"…PROTECTOR!!"**_

_It tore into the Source's golden pillar ferociously, and slowly but surely, bit by bit, the light was pushed back by this glowing red monstrosity. Daxis shrieked out in exertion, pressing against the Source with all his might. Sally could not believe what she was witnessing. "This…this is how powerful Daxis really is…" she realized with no small amount of fear, unable to keep herself from picturing someone she loved on the receiving end of that dreadful onslaught._

_Even as its very being began to dissipate under the fury of its enemy's sheer strength, the Source said nothing. This had always been a possible outcome, it had known…whatever happened now, it could no longer help. It had done all it could. Still pouring itself against Daxis, the Source struggled on even as the Walker's darkness tore and ripped into the remains of its essence. At last, their colliding powers exploded in a final, glorious finale. Sally shielded her eyes from the pure white sphere of light that emerged from their confrontation's conclusion. When that light faded…the Source was gone…_

And so too was it in the waking world. It all happened so fast, even Sonic could barely keep up. The light had come down from above, bolts of electricity sparking out of its blinding form, just before his hand had slipped away from Sally's arm. In that one brief moment, he had felt it through her…felt that warm power flow into him. The fatigue that had plagued him so doggedly seemed to disappear, replaced by renewed vigor and vitality. Yet even as that rush surged across the hedgehog's body, a bright burst of light, like a supernova exploding, burst out from nearby, breaking the stone gripping his leg and knocking the speedster away as if he were paper in the wind. Body reacting with that good old speed-_"Finally!"_ he thought to himself-, he flipped himself about to land gracefully on his feet.

When the light cleared away, Sonic was more than a touch unnerved to see that the flares of red and black that had been moving so vigorously before had just…stopped, floating stone still in the air. Smoke and debris floated everywhere, a gaping crater was now in front of the altar, and Daxis was nowhere to be seen. The hedgehog was not the only one to notice that absence. "L…Lord Daxis!" Amodeus cried out in a broken voice. "LORD DAXIS!!" he shrieked out desperately when no response emerged, running into the crater's dark depths in a panic. _"It can't be…IT CAN'T BE!!"_

With the Shaman otherwise occupied, Sonic checked quickly on Tails, who had thankfully been too far away from the blast to be affected by it. "You OK, Big Guy?" Sonic asked just to be sure.

"As OK as I was before, at the least…" the young fox replied as cheerfully as he could. "Don't worry about me; get to Aunt Sally, while you've got the chance!"

The hedgehog had been ready to do THAT from the moment he'd felt himself healed. In the blink of an eye he had dashed to the altar, standing at the still-floating Sally's side. "Sal…" he said softly, placing his hand firmly but affectionately upon the same place on her arm he had brushed against before. "Please…please tell me you're OK…"

To his surprise, the Princess' eyes fluttered open. "…who…who's there…?" she asked weakly.

Her vision was blurry…everything around the squirrel seemed a blend of the world within her own mind and the reality she knew. It was hard to see or think straight…the squirrel felt terribly weak, starved and thirsty and frail. "…who's there?" she asked again with a strained squeak.

Sonic found himself trying to answer, only to come up short every time he tried. If she'd seen him and reacted, like she had in the hall above, that would've been one thing. That was something visceral, something physical. That was something Sonic could handle. This, however…she looked so frail right then that it broke the hedgehog's heart, and the sight of her terrified face when she'd seen him before still remained fresh in his mind. _"Who can blame her, after all I did to her?"_ he thought remorsefully.

Yet he was here now, and silence could not save her. So Sonic said the only thing he could. "It's me, Sal. It's Sonic."

The squirrel's face slowly turned to him, looking up with tear-strained eyes that showed just how much of Sally's life had been taken away so far. "...w…why are…YOU here…?" she asked.

Looking at the hedgehog, she was him in as the child he had been when they were growing up…as the young boy who'd helped her turn a rag-tag group of kids into Freedom Fighters…as the teenager who'd helped her through so many hard times…and then she saw that red-eyed monster who'd beaten her bloody, spat in her face. And suddenly all the other Sonics she saw faded away, because she understood now…they were lies. All of them. Maybe, once upon a time, they'd been true, but not anymore. They were just memories now. "…Sally?" Sonic whispered, unable to keep just standing there having her…_look_ at him like that. "Please, Sal, I know…I know a lot of bad stuff's happened, but…"

"…Stop lying…" Sally hissed harshly. "…You hate me…"

It took a second for her words to fully sink in. He remembered what she was talking about…what he'd said. "No, Sal…" he replied. "I could NEVER…"

The continued cold glare killed that sentence before its end. Sonic wished this could be like the days back in Knothole, when he could pick fights with Sally for no other reason than because he was bored and not have to worry about the outcome. He wished he could know for sure that the entity he was speaking to still WAS Sally; what if Daxis was right? What if too much of her was gone to bring her back? Looking at those cold, empty eyes, it certainly seemed the likeliest possibility. _"No…"_ he thought. _"I can't…I WON'T accept that! Sal's ALWAYS been there for me…ALWAYS. Even when…even when things got bad, she stuck with me. I can't lose her…I won't!"_

With that resolve hardened, Sonic then did something he had never really done with Sally before: he conceded. With a heavy sigh, he knelt down next to her so that they were at eye level. "OK, so…maybe I got a little mad at ya." He said, then hastily backpedaled. "OK, OK, REALLY mad. I just…"

His hand tightened around her arm. "Sal, we've known each other since we were just kids. I still remember the exact _second _I first saw ya. Ever since then we've butted heads every now 'n' again, but we've always been friends."

Even as he spoke, the hedgehog could see that image…a little intruder in his Uncle's workshop, ripe for pranking. It was an image that stood side by side with those OTHER memories, the ones the Order had given him, but there was no difficulty determining which one was real. Which one REALLY mattered. "The thing is, as fun as it was to butt heads with you," he continued, a waver in his voice that surprised even him, "it never meant as much to me as being…close…to you. You were my best friend, Sal…you were always there, keepin' me honest 'n' out of trouble 'n' lookin' out for me. For all of us."

Tails had finally begun to feel the ability to move, rising up into a sitting position as Sonic spoke.

The fox was unsure whether or not he could help, but he wanted to, badly. Too often he'd put Sally to the side over the last year; everyone had. She'd needed them all after what had happened with the Xorda, and none of them had really been there for her. Sally had pretended not to care, but looking back at it now, Tails felt, he should have known she was lying for their sake. That was what she always did: protect her friends and their feelings, even at her own cost. "Aunt Sally…" he whispered sadly, tears welling in his eyes.

Sonic, meanwhile, continued to speak to her. "I…I'm not really good at this, Sal, ya know that." He said with a chuckle in spite of himself. "Talkin' about this sorta thing…it's just never been my forte, but…"

He pressed his forehead softly against hers. "But you need to know the truth. 'Cuz none of us have been giving a whole lot of that out lately."

The squirrel seemed to tremble ever so slightly, a movement so slight the hedgehog was unsure if he actually saw it or if he just WANTED to see it. Regardless, he steeled himself for his next, most important words. "See…sometimes, it just…I would just get so MAD. So ANGRY that you couldn't just see things MY way 'n' let it go. I cared about you, Sal, I did, a LOT. But every now 'n' then…I'd just wanna run away from you 'n' never look back."

He felt himself starting to cry. _"Not now."_ He chided mentally. _"Stay tough. For Sally."_

"Then…then you asked me to be your Consort and I…I just PANICKED. I was just plain SCARED, Sal, because you were asking me to do something I just plain couldn't. I didn't understand then…I guess I STILL don't quite get it, but…but I made a big mistake that night, Sal. I let my fear 'n' my frustration team up. I turned ya down and then high-tailed it out of there, even though I knew...I KNEW how upset you'd be. I just didn't want to have to deal with that. I was a coward, and I am so, SO sorry."

This time, Sonic KNEW he saw her moving…it was a small, subtle movement, but it meant so much. "But no matter WHAT has happened…" he told her with conviction, "no matter how mad or scared or frustrated I get with you…I will never, NEVER hate you, Sal. EVER."

He held her hand as tight as he could, gazing into those eyes which began again to flicker with the faintest hints of life. "I lo…"

Wind boomed out of the nearby crater, followed swiftly by an invisible, unseen force that hammered into Sonic's body like a million fists. Launched off his feet, the hedgehog crashed down next to Tails with a THUD. "NO!" he shouted in a panic; he was SO close! He got back up almost instantly, knowing just who had knocked him away. "LEAVE HER ALONE!!"

The only response was another forceful blast, pinning Sonic to the wall. Amodeus floated out of the crater, followed closely by Daxis. Though his body was clearly wounded, gaps in its robe and cracks in its bone, those wounds were slowly healing, and the bright glow of his eyes marked him as the attacker. **"Stop this meaningless resistance, 'Hero'…"** the Walker growled with some strain. **"Your precious Source cannot save you any more. This ends NOW."**

With the smooth grace of a serpent, the wraith flew over to Sally's body, the threads of energy resuming their motions in and out of their two forms. The storm was renewed, but Sonic was not about to let that stop him. "I SAID STAY AWAY!" he shouted, ready to run full speed toward the altar and pound that arrogant skull to dust.

Yet as he dashed forward to protect Sally, his feet suddenly sank into the ground. "Wha…?"

"**My powers are...incomplete…for the moment…but this Temple is bound to me like any other member of my Order." **Daxis explained, a tone of amusement to his voice that belied his frustration. **"Though only in the areas closest to me for the moment, I can still bend its form to my will."**

With Sonic's interference eliminated for the moment, Daxis resumed his feast: Sally fed him her life, the Vortex fed him his, and the Source's marks faded all the faster. Connected once more with the Princess' fast-fading mind, the Walker felt a great deal of pleasure as he returned to her memory world. No longer a proud Queen standing in a glorious kingdom, the squirrel instead lay on a barren and dying wasteland, kneeling on the ground and struggling just to keep herself from falling down completely. Bits and pieces of her "body" were gone. **"How the Mighty have fallen…"** the Walker gloated.

Sally gave no answer. **"Silent for once, are you?" **Daxis asked. **"A shame…I would have relished one final chance to break your will before you…"**

That was when he felt it. Her life force…it had stopped feeding his body. The barren wasteland around them stayed as it was, dissipating no further. Before him, the young squirrel was struggling to her feet. "D…don't…worry…" Sally coughed roughly. "You'll GET that chance…"

From out of her back, threads of light began to emerge like wings. They were faint, almost invisible…but they were unmistakably there. The ties that bound Sally to the world of the living…the ties whose severance had opened her soul for Daxis to feast upon...

"**Impossible…"** the wraith hissed in disbelief. **"IMPOSSIBLE!!"**

"I…I understand now, what's been happening…" Sally said, voice gaining vitality with each breath, "In all the chaos of the last year…with all the terrible things happening, pushing me and the people I cared about apart…the foundations that have always kept me tied to Mobius…to my friends and family…began to break down. It was gradual, subtle…but it happened."

Sally stood at her full height now, the threads of light shimmering brighter and brighter. Daxis, to his own surprise, felt himself waver with fear. This should not…COULD not…have been happening! "YOU realized that too, didn't you? That was why you only had the Order interfere directly only AFTER Sonic returned home…because it was only then that you realized what you needed to do to get what you wanted from me. You had to break the LAST bond...even if it was for just a moment, all the things keeping me alive would be gone if you could just do THAT." The Princess continued, now practically booming. "But before…when I saw the others, realized they'd come to rescue me, my bonds with them came alive again. Only that wasn't enough, not anymore. You'd already sunk your claws into me, you were already pulling me away. I needed to know that ALL the things…the PEOPLE…I cared about most were still with me."

Sonic…everywhere, everything around the two clashing entities focused on that name, that person, for one powerful moment. **"No No NO!!" **Daxis shrieked in a tantrum. He had come so far…tasted the sweet nectar of existence again. He COULD NOT be denied, not NOW! **"YOU ARE DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME? DEAD! UNLOVED! ALONE!! **_**I **_**HAVE YOUR LIFE NOW, YOU ARE BOUND TO **_**ME! **_**THESE PATHETIC…'BONDS'…ARE MEANINGLESS NOW!! I DESTROYED THE SOURCE, I BEAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT'S TOO LATE! I WON, I WON , I WON!!"**

Despite herself…despite EVERYTHING…Sally laughed. "How the Mighty have fallen indeed…" she chuckled, enraging the Walker further. "You came close, Daxis, but ultimately…"

Hissing and roaring and foaming in rage, the Walker could only watch as Sally's body lit up like a star, illuminating the world around them back into life. Green fields, a majestic castle, a world of memories that symbolized everything Princess Sally had ever been…and a strong, proud Queen, finally able to stand tall on her own two feet and know she was home. "…you can't TOUCH me anymore."

With a violent shriek, Daxis the Forsaken Walker was flung away from Princess Sally Acorn for the second time in short order. The vortex shattered away, the waves of black and red faded into nothingness, and Sally fell the short distance back down to the Altar. After the bombastic display, everything was silence. That silence was rather awkwardly broken when Sonic, feet no longer stuck in rock, sped forward and crashed headlong into the ground. Brushing that incident aside as gracefully as he could, the Blue Blur lifted Sally into his arms. "Sally!" he said, not sure what was happening but needing to know. "SALLY!"

Amodeus sank to his knees, unable to believe what he was seeing. The Child…had REJECTED Daxis? _"How…how can that BE?" _the Shaman questioned in his thoughts, comprehension eluding him in the face of such a devastating, inconceivable sight.

He thus made no moves to keep Sonic and Sally apart. "C'mon, Sal, tell me you're OK!" the hedgehog continued to prod, hoping beyond hope to get an answer.

It was thus with unimaginable relief and joy that he saw her eyes-complete again-open, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "S…stop yelling…" she replied with a bit of a stammer. "I'm…right here…"

Sonic laughed, the first good long laugh he'd had in a while, and simply threw his arms around her, hugging her as strongly and lovingly as he could. He didn't say anything. He simply continued to laugh. She was back. Sally was finally, FINALLY back! The Princess returned the gesture, glad to have Sonic in her arms again, glad to know that, somehow, she really had made it home. She laughed too, because that was what listening to someone laugh for long enough tended to do to her. With a squeak, the squirrel found herself swept off the altar, swung around like a child in the arms of her father. Before long, her feet touched ground again right next to Tails, who was beaming with all the joy he could muster. "Aunt Sally, Aunt Sally!" he called happily, and she, still laughing, knelt down and held him close and kissed his nose like she had when he was a younger boy.

The Princess felt…incredible. After all the trials and tribulations she had faced in this place, she had finally rebuked the demon that had haunted her nightmares with finality. Daxis was still alive, Sally could feel it, but somehow…that fact did not scare her as much anymore. The squirrel knew she could face him now, because Sonic, Tails, her family…they were here with her. No matter what happened, they were still with her.

Watching the happy reunion between his friends, Sonic smiled, but had fallen silent.

A sudden rumble than passed through the room, nearly knocking Sonic and Sally to their feet and finishing the job started by the storm of energy earlier: the cracks and lashes in the roof of stone above gave way, exposing the upper level of the temple. Dragging Tails out of the way of the falling rock, Sally looked upward to see where the holes in the roof opened up to. The answer came when a familiar red echidna poked his head over the hole. "Sally?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Julie-Su, look! There they are!"

"I'll fly us up there!" Tails said gleefully, then hissed a bit in pain. "As…soon as I can, of course…" he finished with a sheepish grin.

"Don't bother, we've got rope!" Julie-Su shouted down to them from above.

Yet even as the two echidnas moved to bring them up, Sonic could…sense…that something was wrong. A gust blew past the trio, and that feeling was confirmed. "Well, well, well…I AM impressed, Blue. You 'n' your little friends have managed to screw things up pretty bad for us…"

Appearing as if from nowhere, Lilith landed next to Amodeus, who remained on his knees. "But we're far from beaten yet." The bat growled.

Then a third form appeared behind them. Only half-formed, but still alive, Daxis rose like a shadow over his two servants. **"I…will NOT be beaten…" **he rumbled, a single voice now. **"Your life…WILL be mine, Child of the Source…"**

Sonic, Sally, and Tails all stood resolutely before the Order. "I've already beaten you once, Daxis…" Sally said firmly. "I'm more than ready to do it again."

**To Be Continued…**


	12. Upheaval

Author's Note: I realize it's been a long, LONG time since this story last updated. I offer no excuses save that the delay was just as much a result of my wanting to make sure I got this right as it was lack of time overall to work on it. But enough stalling; time to give you what you came here to read. I hope you enjoy this, the last full chapter of _Blood Pact_. ^_^

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

_Where once was light  
Now darkness falls  
Where once was love  
Love is no more  
Don't say goodbye  
Don't say I didn't try_

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Twelve: Upheaval

Taking stock of the scene directly below him, Knuckles tried to piece together what had happened. On the one side, Sonic, Sally, and Tails stood in front of the rope he'd thrown down to them, ready to leave the horrible temple that had been a battlefield for the last few hours. On the other, there was that strange bat Lilith, a goat Knuckles had never seen before, and...and someone…some THING…else. A tattered mass of red upon which a floating skull rested. It was the skull that gave Knuckles the most pause, because he had seen it before, carved in stone on the top of Death Mountain. _"That must be…"_ he realized with no small fear. _"That must be Daxis…"_

In the sanctuary below, the two sides both stood in deadlock, each trying their best to make their moves without setting the other off. Sally, Tails leaned against her body, was slowly guiding the fox toward the lifeline Knuckles now held with soft and subtle steps. Sonic, meanwhile, stood protectively in front of both of them, arms cautiously spread out in a shielding position. Like a tiger, Lilith stood crouched now, wings flexing predatorily every so often, anger clear in her gaze. Amodeus had shaken his shock off and now held his staff tightly. Then there was Daxis, floating still, eyes transfixed intensely on Sally. His form was hooked, as if at any moment it would spring forward like a spear and pierce whoever was in its way. **"You cannot escape, Child…"** he threatened, crooking his head to the side.

Sally, however, was unshaken. She began swiveling Tails around toward the rope as Sonic swiped his nose at the Walker. "Tough talk for someone who just got his ethereal ass handed to him!" he spat back.

Amodeus sputtered with rage. "Your tongue's run free long enough, whelp!" he roared. "We don't need you anymore, so it's time I did something I've been waiting a LONG time for!"

Even as winds whipped around the goat's body, Sonic glanced behind him. Tails and Sally were both wrapping their hands around the rope. Clenching his fists and tensing his body, the hedgehog readied himself to take the charge and give them the cover they needed to escape. Then, in a heartbeat, the powder keg was lit. Amodeus, staff now a pillar of flame in his hands, moved to strike, but Sonic cut him to the quick. Blasting forward, he rammed the Shaman with all his strength, sending him flying with a yelp. Lilith was quick to react, striking at Sonic with claws bared. "RUN!" the speedster shouted to his friends, dodging out of Lilith's way and jumping just in time to avoid the sinkhole Daxis had made for him. "RUN, RUN, RUN!!!"

"Go, Tails, GO!" Sally urged, and the fox began to climb as best he could.

Turning back, the squirrel's eyes rested upon Sonic, still dancing about through the many attacks of his enemies while simultaneously shifting their focus off the rope, but soon she too began to climb.

Up above, Knuckles tried to pull the rope up to no avail. The two Mobians clinging to it were too heavy. _"I can…I CAN…"_ he thought briefly, but shook it away. He'd learned his lesson. Hiding his weakness did not make it go away. "J…Julie-Su!" he grunted, still trying, "Help them up! Quickly!"

In a heartbeat, the pink echidna was at his side, pulling the rope with all her strength. Feeling her warmth at his side…knowing how close he had come to losing that warmth forever because of his stubbornness…it gave Knuckles pause. Yet he did not lose sight of their shared goal. Slowly but surely, their efforts proved successful: inch by inch the rope climbed up, and with it Sally and Tails. The fox came up first, stepping onto the cracked stone, adding his own arms to the effort. Sally's form soon came into view, yet she did not let go of the rope. "C'mon, Sally, we have to get out of here! Somehow!" Tails urged, the last word a concession to the fact that he had no idea HOW they would get out; Lilith had destroyed the kunai they'd used to enter.

Rather than follow that instruction, however, Sally remained still, feet pressed to the broken ledge of rock. "Knuckles, Julie-Su…thank you both for coming to help me." She said, looking up at the two echidnas with a warm smile. "And Tails…I love you. So, SO much."

"Aunt Sally…?"

"This isn't goodbye, Tails. There's just something I have to do. Take care of yourself and the others, OK?"

Knuckles, Julie-Su, and Tails all stood stone still, not quite sure what to make of Sally's statement. It became a bit more clear when she released her hold on the rope, her feet leaping off the stone's edge. With an athleticism she had not used for some time, the Princess flipped back down to the Sanctuary, landing on the tips of her toes. Looking out ahead, she saw that Sonic was still playing decoy. Yet he was slowly being boxed in; the sanctuary's roof may have been all but gone, but it was still ultimately a confined space, and the less of it Sonic had to use, the worse. Still, at the end of the day, HE was not the one they wanted. He was a hurdle to overcome for them, and one they would dismiss without hesitation if their true goal was within reach. Knowing that, Sally took a deep breath, than shouted at the top of her lungs, "DAXIS!!!"

Sure enough, all three froze mid-motion, and slowly their gazes turned toward the Princess. **"You…"** Daxis hissed, eyes flaring up in intensity.

"Yes. Me." Sally answered tersely.

As before, a brief stillness settled upon them all, but this one was far briefer. Body bubbling and throbbing like a flame fed fresh kindling, Daxis rose up like a serpent into the air with a howl that spoke of terrible evils. For a moment, the Princess felt a familiar, choking fear well up inside of her…a fear made of nightmares and dark voices…but it passed quickly this time. Daxis was still dangerous on a level few others could be, but he could not control her with fear any longer. That was why she was here now: this was a fight she could not run from. This had to end. HE had to end.

From below Daxis' body, the ground cracked and splintered into chunks, swirling up like a dust cloud around him. Then, with a pulse of crimson, they dispersed, flying out at Sally with their sharp edges face forward. Leaping out of the way, the squirrel found herself rolling across the floor as the stone knives flew about, crashing and shattering behind her. **"You should have escaped when you had the chance, Child," **Daxis shouted angrily at her, **"because now…you will NEVER leave this Temple!"**

Even as she continued evading the flurry of rocks and stones, feeling the fragments nick her body along the way, the squirrel wondered what the Walker's plan was. _"Does he intend to kill me?" _she wondered. _"I thought he'd want me alive to finish the job…"_

She did not let it worry her; regardless of Daxis' plans, HER plan was to stop him either way. Breaking out of the roll with which she'd evaded attack so far, she began running as fast as she could, stone still shattering close behind. Yet in the corner of her vision, she could see Amodeus and Lilith both preparing to join their Master in the attack. _"Time to stop playing defense…" _she thought sternly, beginning to change her direction.

She was not alone in that regard. Sonic had not spent his window of escape from attack idly. The whole time he had been backing away from the trio, hoping to put a solid deal of distance between them before striking. Now, back to the wall, the hedgehog braced himself. _"Hang on, Sal, here comes the cavalry!"_ he thought before revving his feet up and around. _"A good ol' fashioned Triple Eight Peel-Out oughta do it!"_

With a fierce spring he sped forward, fists outstretched. "LOOK OUT!" Lilith shouted, her sensitive ears picking up the sound of Sonic's movement.

Though Amodeus and Daxis both moved out of the way, the time Lilith had taken to warn them left her without time to dodge the attack herself. So it was she found herself rammed into by the hedgehog, moving at top speed and carrying her like a train down the hall. As they rushed past Sally, the hedgehog's gaze briefly met the squirrel's. It was a split second, neither one stopping for knowledge of the battle still being fought, but it was a powerful moment for both even so. All too quickly it was over, however, and the fight continued. "This is wrong!" Amodeus shouted to Sally, stepping forward in front of Daxis and raising his staff up defensively. "You and Daxis are ALREADY linked, Child! Why fight the inevitable?"

The Princess did not bother to answer. Knowing Daxis controlled the ground around him, she instead leapt into the air, tackling Amodeus and grabbing at his staff. If she could rest it from him, the Princess knew, it would deprive the goat of much of his strength. "I beg of you, see reason!" the shaman growled in an oddly pleading way, "This is the only hope for our world!"

"I've heard that line enough times!" Sally replied sharply, feeling the goat's grip on his staff loosening.

The furs on the back of her neck, however, prickled. The ground beneath the two struggling Mobians began to sift away like sand. Gasping, Sally reluctantly rolled off the shaman and dashed for cover. Behind her she heard Daxis' haunting shriek and heard stone once more begin to crack. From above, however, flashes of light burst down toward them. _"The Source?" _Sally briefly thought, but soon realized it was laser fire.

Julie-Su, beam rifle aimed, fired off another round at the floating spectre. Knuckles stood by her side, Tails leaning on him. "C'mon, Sally!" the fox shouted. "Get back up here!"

"You too, Sonic!" Knuckles cried.

He tossed the rope back down into the Sanctuary. Sally looked back and forth between it and Daxis, unsure now what to do next. There was no way she could leave this fight unfinished: Daxis had to be stopped. Yet in the Temple, he had the advantage, and though she and Sonic were holding their own for now, she knew they would never be able to win on this battlefield. To retreat with Knuckles and the others, however, meant invoking Daxis' wrath on them as well, something Sally could not bring herself to do. Ultimately, however, the choice was made for her: Sonic scooped the Princess into his arms, circling back and leaping up onto the rope as high as he could get. One hand on the rope, the other holding Sally close to his body, Sonic then began to struggle upwards as fast as he could, Julie-Su's continued laser fire providing them cover. "Come on, COME ON!" Knuckles shouted encouragingly, "You're almost there!"

"Hurry up, I don't think this is going to work forever!" Jule-Su added, watching as her beams passed harmlessly through his body.

The Walker gave soft grunts of annoyance at her continued attacks but, beyond light burns on the red of his cloak, showed no signs of harm. Yet he made no move to attack the retreating group. With an intense and unwavering glare he watched Sonic reach the top with Sally, climbing up to join his friends at last. Amodeus lifted himself off the ground, a bit shaken at almost being submerged by his Master. "My Lord?" he asked softly. "Why do you not pursue?"

**"They should be DEAD already…"** Daxis snarled in reply. **"They should have died the moment I wished it so."**

"Your body is…incomplete, Master," Amodeus said soothingly, but silenced himself at the reproachful way the Walker's body glowed.

**"LILITH." **He barked, watching the group above retreat down the upper corridor, out of eye sight.

The bat, wearied by Sonic's unexpectedly forceful assault, nevertheless roused herself and stood back up. "Yes, My Lord?" she asked.

**"Pursue them. Kill them all if you can."**

"ALL of them?" she asked uncertainly.

The wraith nodded. For a moment, Lilith hesitated, but it passed quickly. _"If only things could have gone differently, Blue…" _she thought sadly before answering aloud, "As you wish."

With that, the bat took to the skies and flew after the others. "Should we not join her?" Amodeus asked anxiously, afraid to question his Lord's judgment but unsure of just what he was planning.

**"We have more pressing matters to attend to." **Daxis answered firmly. **"Take me to the Deadlands of Northwood."**

The goat felt his heart skip a beat. "N…Northwood?" he asked, coughing a bit. "But…"

**"NOW."**

Loyalty and fear overrode hesitation, and the shaman nodded in acquiescence. Slamming his staff to the ground, the light of teleportation erupting from it, he only prayed that whatever they were travelling to Northwood for would not disturb those who rested there…

XXX

For all the excitement surrounding them, there was a stunned silence surrounding Sonic and the others when he and Sally finally finished their climb. The squirrel removed herself from Sonic's arms, trying hard to say "thank you", or else chastise the hedgehog for forcing retreat on her, or SOMETHING, but somehow nothing came out. Sonic too wanted to ask Sally what in the world she had been thinking coming back like she had, perhaps congratulate her on giving Amodeus a good thrashing, and he failed just as much as the Princess. Instead, they both kept their gazes unfocused and away from the other. Julie-Su, the nozzle of her rifle still smoking, did not feel so patient. "Hey, sleepyheads!" she said forcefully, "We need a way out of here, right now!"

Both immediately snapped back to attention. Sally reacted swiftly. "I should be able to move us out of the Temple…I did it once before." She said, remembering her earlier escape.

Sonic, meanwhile, was looking back down the hallway toward where the Sanctuary was. Why weren't they being attacked already? The Order had the power to strike them at will in here, yet no one had yet appeared, and it unnerved him deeply. It could only mean they were planning something truly destructive. "Sonic!" Knuckles called to him, "Come on, we're getting out of here!"

The hedgehog turned back to see Sally kneeling before their unconscious team-mates. Geoffrey, Hershey, Rotor, and the three Arachne all remained still and motionless on the ground. The Princess was linking their hands together. As he watched her help, the hedgehog smiled; she really WAS back. It was hard to believe, thinking over the panicked and frightening memories that rested prominently in his mind. After all that chaos, the idea of things going back to normal seemed impossible, but…there Sally was, leading like she had in the good old days, confident and sure, and it felt right. "C'mon, Sonic." Tails urged, adding his own hand to the growing chain.

"Right, Big Guy."

Sally took his hand into hers, holding it tightly. She too felt the warmth of memory in that moment, the comfort of these people who were such a strong part of her life. To have that back…to have those constants thought lost given back…meant so much to the Princess. It was how she had gotten this far, after all. Again, the urge to say SOMETHING to Sonic reared up, but she knew escape had to come first. Recalling how she had done so before, Sally focused her mind upon the floor, envisioning the Main Hall where the exit was located.

Then, from right beneath them all, Lilith burst out of the floor. Knuckles and Tails were tripped off their feet by her appearance, but Sonic, Sally, and Julie-Su reacted fast enough to avoid the bat. Despite her sudden and severe entrance, however, Lilith seemed oddly calm. There was a resigned melancholy in her eyes, and Sonic, looking up at them from his crouched position on the ground, could see it clear as day. Though it did little to relax his tensed and ready-for-battle posture, it piqued the hedgehog's sympathies. Sally saw it…sensed it…too, and so, immediately stepping in to be the voice of reason, she asked simply but sternly, "What do you want?"

Lilith shot her a cool but contemptuous look, then replied in kind, "To make an offer."

Sonic gritted his teeth. "No offer YOU could make is worth listening to!" he snapped.

Yet he soon realized Lilith was not paying attention to him. She was, instead, focused entirely on Sally. "You want Blue to walk away from this place alive, too, don't you?" the bat asked, tone blending loathing and understanding in equal measure.

Sally nodded gently, eyes looking straight into Lilith's, trying to gauge the bat's thoughts. "Then here's the deal," Lilith said bluntly, "YOU, Princess, and ONLY you, surrender to me, and I will let Blue and all your little friends leave without lifting a finger to stop them."

"Not a chance!" Sonic snapped venomously, rising up and striding in front of Lilith. "In case you didn't notice, we thrashed your Big Bad Boss back there. We can get out of here WITHOUT your help!"

"You think that NOW," Lilith replied tersely, "but I guarantee your tune will change very soon, Blue."

"We're not afraid of Daxis!" Sonic retorted, not willing to concede an inch.

"In THAT case, you're dumber than I thought!" Lilith shot right back.

Sally had to blink as she watched the two bicker. Just as before, there was an air of familiarity to their arguing, only this time it was tempered with feelings of unease. The way Sonic and Lilith argued…it was just like how SHE and Sonic would argue…right down to that subtle but undeniable sense that beneath the frustration and genuine conflict, there was a spark of something more. It was most disconcerting to see for the Princess. _"I'd almost forgotten…"_ she realized. _"The way the two of them were side by side when they showed up in Knothole two days ago…how close they seemed…"_

Yet she steadfastly refused to allow such thoughts to sidetrack her now. Instead, she placed her hand on Sonic's again, to let him know he had given Lilith an answer they all agreed on. The hedgehog's sudden silence as he felt her touch made it clear he understood. Lilith noticed him stop, noticed WHY he stopped…it made her blood boil. Clenching her fists, she backed away from the group slowly. "I see…" she said lowly. "THAT's your choice?"

Sonic's only answer was a nod and a wry grin. For a moment, the bat felt sorrow…but it passed quickly. If the hedgehog was so determined to die with his Princess, who was she to stop him, after all? Bowing mockingly, she said, "Fine. Then consider this Goodbye, Blue. I've clearly mistaken you for someone else."

"Clearly." Sonic agreed. Then, a flicker of regret in his eyes, he said, "But…you don't have to stay here, either."

Everyone looked at the hedgehog in shock as he said that. Ignoring their gazes, he continued, "I know…the person you thought I was…knows you, Lil. You can leave this place, leave the Order, and still be happy."

The bat smirked, chuckling grimly. "If that's what you truly believe…" she said bitterly, "then I really HAVE lost you…"

With an ominous glare fixated upon Sally, the bat sank into the ground. No sooner was her head out of sight did the temple begin shaking violently. Sally felt ill all of a sudden, like waves of nausea were overwhelming her. "That backstabbing, underhanded…" Knuckles barked angrily, struggling to keep his balance. "She was STALLING us that whole time!"

"Everybody, link hands!" Sally shouted, fighting against the cold sickening sensation that felt like poison in her veins. "We've got to get out of here, NOW!"

XXX

The unending gray of the Deadlands was only slightly livened by the column of light that cracked down upon it. The light faded, and Daxis and Amodeus emerged into what was once Northwood. As it had before, the sight of the barren land stirred up painful memories for the Shaman. Before, he had been in control of them, hopeful that this dark symbol of what freedom truly entailed could convince the Child of the Source to give up her fight. Yet now…now he had NO idea what he was doing in the graveyard of his closest, dearest friends, and their dying howls were fresh in his thoughts. Even the fact that it was at Daxis' command that had brought them here did little to stifle that, and that too disturbed Amodeus. _"Daxis' word is law, I've known that for years now." _He thought tensely. _"So why…why does his order to bring us here fill me with such dread?"_

**"This is where you and I first met, is it not?" **the Walker asked coolly with his back turned, bringing Amodeus' attention back to the present…somewhat.

"Y…yes, my Lord…" the goat replied.

**"The place where you saw the truth of your race and recanted your old Gods for me, yes?" **Daxis pressed, the sound of hidden purpose in his rumbling voice.

"Yes, Lord Daxis…" Amodeus repeated, feeling his body quiver, a cough suddenly racking its way through him.

With frightful speed, the wraith turned to face him. **"What were your EXACT words, Shaman?" **he asked sharply.

Another cough preceded Amodeus' answer. "M…my Lord, that was…many years ago…"

**"Your VOW, Shaman…"** Daxis growled, eyes burning brighter. **"Repeat your VOW to me."**

The scar over Amodeus' face burned like a red-hot branding iron. Hissing in pain, he choked out, "I…I swear to you…your name alone shall be the one…I take in worship..."

**"And other names which hold claims of sanctity?" **Daxis asked, remembering his own words with the perfection of his timeless memory.

"F…falsehoods…" the shaman answered as he had all those years before, "Pretenders…Ignorant Gods…who do not understand the true value of this world Mobius…"

**"Will you serve me loyally? Speak my message flawlessly? Carry out my wishes without question?"**

"…Yes…I shall serve you with loyalty and faith…to create your new world!"

The burning in Amodeus' scar stopped. Lurching over in relief, the goat gasped loudly. **"Hold that memory strong, my Shaman…"** Daxis said ominously.

Amodeus found it hard to hold ANYTHING strong at the moment, though his vitality was slowly returning. Nevertheless, reciting his vow had left him even more unnerved; there were very few reasons Lord Daxis would ask for such a clear and powerful affirmation of loyalty, and none of them were pleasant. **"We are closer now than ever to our victory," **Daxis said, **"If we wish to grasp it, we must make…sacrifices. My body is incomplete, too weak to finish the job. We MUST strengthen it to succeed."**

"Lord…Daxis…?"

**"Summon the Echoes of Northwood, Shaman."**

Amodeus felt his heart freeze. Bach…the troops…all the souls who had died on that fateful day…the Echoes were the last shred of existence they had left. The rest had been lost to the ethers of time and death. To take that away from them…to effectively kill the only thing of his friends that remained…it staggered the goat's mind. "My…my Lord…is there no other way?" he asked desperately.

**"The Echoes are fragments of pure life force," **Daxis explained, **"and I know of no other place on Mobius that holds them in such magnitude. Summon them to this plane so I might take their strength and add it to my own."**

Again, terrible coughs choked out of Amodeus, trying to rationalize what was being asked of him. Daxis had his reasons, he thought. Daxis needed to claim the Child fully, he thought. This was the only way, he thought. Yet none of those thoughts overcame the guilt swelling in his stomach. "I…I…Lord Daxis…" he wheezed in fear, knowing defiance was unacceptable, but…, "I don't know…I don't know if I can…"

He felt his scar begin to grow warm again. **"You mean you don't know if you WILL…"** the Walker growled.

"They are my _friends_, Lord Daxis…" Amodeus said pleadingly, tears forming in his good eye despite his efforts to hold them back, "You are asking me to…erase them from existence…forever…"

**"Yes I am," **Daxis answered bluntly. **"And you will. Because that is what NEEDS to happen in order for us to succeed."**

The goat licked his lips anxiously, still feeling that eerily alien moistness in his eye. To create a better world…a world where War was dead and tragedies like what happened to Bach would be silenced forever…that was why he had turned away from Aurora and her teachings. That was why, when he had felt himself hovering between life and death on the scorched battlefield and that faint, powerful voice had spoken to him, he had listened. That was why, when he had awoken, a scar ran along his face to remind him of his promise. That was why he had kidnapped an innocent young girl from her home and subjected her to terrible torture. For Daxis. He had done it all for Daxis and the new world he had promised. In all this time, that had been enough. **"SHAMAN!"** the Walker roared, all patience lost. **"Summon the Echoes! NOW!!!"**

It had been enough before. It would be enough now. It WOULD be enough now. It WOULD. Repeating that thought over and over and over in his mind, Amodeus nodded, blinking his tears and doubts away. "Yes…Master." He answered.

Closing his eyes, the goat whispered the words needed to bring the Echoes forth. "Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… "

Again and again he recited the spell, each repetition a little louder than the last. From the ground, threads of mist began to rise up, coiling like snakes around each other. There were voices, whispers from within them that chorused together in a strange sort of blissful agony. Vague faces and shapes pulsed inside the mist as it rose higher and higher, growing thicker and thicker. **"Yes…yesssssssss…"** Daxis hissed eagerly as he watched them emerge.

Amodeus' chant continued, his eyes gazing only at the ground, unable to look upwards for fear that what he would see could crush his will to continue the spell. Daxis opened his cloak, revealing the empty red interior. **"Come to me, Echoes…"** he whispered hungrily. **"Feed your True God…"**

They obeyed. Without question or will, they obeyed, flowing into the endless red of the Walker. As they entered, their moans began to distort and mutate. The beauty…the twisted harmony…of their anguish vanished, replaced with pain. Pure, unending pain. Amodeus shut his eyes, wishing as hard as he could for that noise to just go away…but then, in one last gasp, he felt his mind reverberate with familiar words: _"…Preacher…Man…"_

"Bach?" he gasped aloud, looking up before he could stop himself.

Perhaps it was the goat's mind playing a cruel trick on him. Perhaps it was real. Whatever it was, though, Amodeus saw as clear as day the tusked face of his long-dead friend in that final wisp of mist, only to watch it sucked away like water into a drain, melting into nothing within Daxis. Growling lowly, the wraith felt the Echoes flowing inside of him, their power feeding into his own. For a moment, he simply trembled, but then, in a burst of light, the skull ascended into the sky, body rising up like a towering inferno. Caught off guard, Amodeus found himself literally blown away as waves of sheer force emanated from the blazing Walker's body. Roaring inhumanly in pleasure and triumph, the demon glared down at his servant. **"You have served me well, Shaman…"** Daxis rumbled. **"Now…we must return to the Temple to finish this."**

Exhausted physically and mentally, Amodeus could give no answer. The Walker did not mind; he did not need the Shaman's help any more. With a bolt of crimson, both had vanished from the place once known as Northwood.

The Temple quaked at their return.

XXX

The trembling that shook through the Temple was getting worse, to the point where pieces of stone had begun to chip off the wall. It was thus little ease on the growing tension that racked her body that Sally emerged with a gasp from the floor of the Main Hall, Sonic and the others still circled around her. The giant gate loomed before them, the promise of escape in its open doors. "OK, now what?" Julie-Su asked loudly. "The end of the hall's the only way out, but it'll take us forever to get there with so many unconscious bodies to drag around!"

"I can run 'em out in no time!" Sonic answered, already beginning to scoop Geoffrey into his arms.

"Are you sure you can still move through the walls, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, even as Tails' eyes found themselves falling to the floor; up until now, he and the others had not given much thought to the fact that Sonic's blood was what had gotten them into the Temple to begin with, which could only mean…

"He won't need to." Sally replied swiftly, responding quickly to the fox's distress. "I'll go with him."

Knuckles nodded silently at that. No risk that Sonic would fail, then. Tails too gave a soft "mm-hm" of approval. Neither, however, felt much more comfortable about the fact that had just been brought back to the fore of their attention. Nevertheless, the more present problem kept them alert. With Geoffrey in Sonic's arms, Sally silently crept onto the hedgehog's back. His prickly quills were uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Once he was sure she was safely on, the hedgehog sped off into the dark tunnel.

The self-imposed silence between the two remained even as they sped past the ruined remains of the Hovercraft. Before too long, the end of the stone hall came into sight. Sally shut her eyes, focusing as best she could. _"Outside…"_ she thought strongly. _"Take us outside…"_

Sonic leapt without pause into the wall, passing through it at last into the outside world. It was strange for the Blue Blur to behold that world again with his eyes wide open, stranger still that his first glimpse was of a storm swept field that was the very portrait of dull grey misery. Laying Geoffrey softly upon the ground, he immediately turned back to the trembling dome. Again, Sally focused, and again, Sonic entered. Back and forth they went, the quake growing worse with each trip. Before too long, only one of the Arachne remained. "Almost there…" Sonic comforted his friends, kneeling down to lift the spider up.

Sally slid off his back. At this point, the group would travel together sans Sonic's speed. As soon as her feet touched the floor, however, the tight pressure in her gut restricted like a vice. Taken by surprise, the squirrel gasped in pain, doubling over. Immediately, all eyes went to her, but they had little time to react. A screech, like the dying call of some unnatural animal, tore through the air, and with it came a trail of shattering stone, a crack that moved like a serpent through the ground like a bolt of lightning. Then, from out of the bolt's edge, a tendril of throbbing red, like a fountain of blood, lashed out and whipped toward the group. "Look out!" Julie-Su shouted, drawing her pistol.

The red wave crashed downward, causing the group to scatter. Sally, still feeling her insides burning up, stumbled in her step, tripping over but quickly recovering. "It's him!" she cried out through the pain. "It's Daxis!"

Sonic, still holding the Arachne in his arms, felt the small ninja begin to stir. "W…what…?" the spider mumbled in confusion.

Tearing through the stone floor, the throbbing red tendril lashed out again, this time at Sonic. Dodging quickly, the hedgehog attempted to run toward Sally, only to be cut off by another thrash from the tendril. "Man! Just a few minutes ago, this guy couldn't even touch us!" Sonic yelled in frustration as he dodged again. "How'd he get so strong all of a sudden?!?"

There was no time to answer that question, for soon another screeching sound joined the current one. Before long, the first tendril was joined by a second, both whipping to and fro wildly, ripping the chamber apart. "His…his body…" the spider clutched to Sonic's chest whispered. "The Source warned us…his body can absorb life force…"

Circling around the chamber, even as it fell further and further apart under the continued thrashing of the crimson enemies, Sonic attempted to regroup with the others. "Glad you could join us." he muttered sarcastically to his passenger.

"My brothers…" the spider coughed, body beginning to move more and more in Sonic's arms, "Where…are my…brothers?"

Another attempt to get back to the others thwarted, Sonic leapt back as yet a third pillar of red crashed out of the ground. "Outside, which is kinda where we were hoping to go!" the hedgehog answered.

"SONIC!"

It was Tails. Still leaning on Knuckles, who was clearly running himself ragged dodging the attacking tentacles with the extra weight on him, the fox's fearful eyes were cast to the skeletal throne on the far end of the room. From within its bony structure, eyes of sheer flame were slowly emerging. Taking notice, Sonic knew time was running out. They had to get out now, or it was over. "Hey, spider-guy…" he said, "how you feelin'?"

"Weak…but growing stronger…" the Arachne replied.

"Strong enough to go for a little spin?"

"Wh…what do you…?"

Before the spider could finish his question, Sonic bolted to the side as a tendril crashed down toward him. Then, rather than try to head toward the group as he had before, the speedster took to the wall, rushing across its surface so swiftly it was as if his feet were stuck to the stone. One of the tendrils took notice of his movement, hurtling toward him. "Right on cue…" Sonic whispered smugly.

Leaping into the air, the hedgehog curled into a Sonic Spin, taking the Arachne into the swirling attack with him. With a buzzing strike, he collided with Daxis' arm, quills spinning fast enough to cut through steel. It was an odd feeling, passing through the Walker…his body felt like slime, thick and wet…but there was something else as well, something not felt so much as sensed. Something chilling…something hateful…something familiar, buzzing in the back of his mind. Pushing through it all, Sonic's cutting body emerged safely on the other side, chilled by the experience but still sturdy. "Sonic, over here!" Tails called out.

He had made it to Tails! He and Knuckles were not far from Sally and Julie-Su. All of them had managed to retreat closely to the gate as the monstrous tendrils closed in on them. Suddenly, Sonic felt himself relieved of the Arachne's weight as the ninja swiftly leapt out of his arms. Trembling a bit, head spinning, the spider tried to compose himself. "Please…if ever you do something like that again…" he mumbled, "warn me first."

"Let's make sure there's a 'next time' for anything first!" Knuckles replied.

Sally, the pain in her body reduced to a dull ache, watched the throbbing claws of red with suspicious eyes. As the others moved cautiously toward the gate, she could not help but feel something was…wrong. The burning eyes remained in the throne, unmoving. _"What is he waiting for…?"_ she wondered cautiously.

Rolling out of the way as a tentacle smashed down toward them, Sally's suspicions only grew as the red claw tore down one of the gate doors, making escape even easier. "Aunt Sally, c'mon!" Tails cried as the group retreated into the corridor. Watching their forms fade into the shadows, the squirrel's mind raced. _"This is a trap, this is a trap, this is a trap…"_ her panicked thoughts warned her, but what form would that trap take?

That was when it hit her. "NO, DON'T!" she shouted in fearful realization, dashing in a desperate attempt to grab one of them.

Too late. From behind her, all three tendrils rose up, merging into a single wall that knocked Sally into the corridor and blocked the exit. _"I can't merge through the walls of the corridor…" _Sally thought. _"Now that his body's blocking the entrance, we're trapped between here and the exit…and if Daxis was trying to trap us in here, that means…"_

The dull ache flared into searing pain again, confirming Sally's fear. The floor…she felt something moving through the floor. Even as the others turned back in surprise at their entrance being blocked, it continued to snake beneath them. "Move…" Sally urged, eyes fixed on the ground. "Move, MOVE!"

Everyone began running as fast as they could toward the exit, save Sonic, who maintained a slowed pace to keep the others in sight. Yet none of them could have moved fast enough. **"Move…move, MOVE!!!"** a taunting echo hissed from all around. **"Yes…flee from me, FEAR me…quiver in my shadow, as your kind has always been meant to!"**

From out of the ground, from the walls, from the ceiling, crimson whips lashed out of the cracks and stone. Before any of them could dodge, all five found themselves tangled up in the red, slimy tendrils. Arms, legs, torso…all wrapped up. None of them could move.

"**In the end, though…"** Daxis gloated grimly, **"you cannot fight Destiny."**

Though his body was thinned considerably, stretched out across the hall as it was, the wraith still made an imposing figure as he rose out of the stone floor. The blood marks upon his skull pulsed and shimmered rhythmically, as did his blazing eyes. Looking closely upon the face she had so neatly memorized from her nightmares, Sally realized there was a beat to those pulses…her heart. Each beat of her heart, and the marks…the eyes…glowed a little brighter. Struggling against her slimy restraints, the Princess stared the Walker down as best she could. Sonic too fought to free himself, grunting from the effort even as his eyes darted to and fro between Sally and Daxis. The Walker, however, paid him no heed, focused entirely on Sally as he spoke, **"The Source tried to protect you…after you first made contact with it, it sensed my presence within you and sought to insulate you from my powers…it failed. Just as YOU failed. Now…at last…I can finally reclaim what is mine…"**

He coiled back, snake-like…and lunged forward.

"NO!"

Several snapping sounds. A blur of blue. A gust of wind swooping into the ground. It all happened so fast, Sally could barely tell anything had happened at all. Blinking for a minute, she quickly pieced together what had occurred, finding herself freed from Daxis' clutches. Tails, Knuckles, and Julie-Su had been released as well, the tendrils having sunk back from where they came. Flipping over, Sally pressed her hands upon the floor, trying with all her might to will herself through the stone. It did not work. "He took Sonic…" she whispered desperately, "that monster took Sonic!"

XXX

Down, down, down Sonic fell through shadows and cold, hands gripped tightly against the bony shoulders of his enemy. Entangled in the demon's amorphous body, they plummeted down into the deepest, darkest level of the Temple, finally crashing on the dank floor. Like quicksand, Daxis covered Sonic's body, pinning the hedgehog to the ground. **"STILL getting in my way, 'Hero'?" **he asked incredulously.

"Call it a bad habit…" Sonic cough-chuckled beneath the pressing weight of the Walker's body.

**"Fine…I'll deal with you first, then."**

The wraith's skull and shoulder blades sank into the red robe, flowing through it and emerging again next to Sonic's head. "Flexible little bone-head, aren't ya?" he quipped, feeling a strange vertigo as the push of the threads became upward rather than downward, as if the flowing form had reversed direction.

There was an eminent heat in Daxis' eyes as he looked over his struggling prey. **"Do you think you're stalling me?" **he asked calmly. **"Think you're sacrificing your life to protect your friends? Your beloved Child?"**

As if pulled by an invisible string, Daxis rose upward without actually bending a single piece of his form. Feeling as if a hundred tiny hands were pushing him back, Sonic nevertheless replied, "Can't…can't really say I thought it through that far. Just knew I had to keep you away from Sal…'n' I did."

**"For a moment, perhaps."** The wraith whispered ominously, a lone tendril stroking the scar that ran along Sonic's chest; to the hedgehog's surprise, it stung as if the wound were fresh, even though it was two days old by now. **"But she will not leave you behind. None of them will. She will come back for you, just like she did in my Sanctuary earlier. What do you say to THAT?"**

"I'd say…" Sonic said, pausing a bit to hiss at the continued probing but finally finishing, "I'd say you're…ngh…in big trouble."

The tendrils tightened their grip on him. **"For one in as poor a position as yours, you sound quite confident…"** Daxis growled.

"I've…hrn…danced this dance before, Skull-Face..." Sonic replied, doing his best to look the Walker in the eye. "'Buttnik, Eggman, Naugus…urk…Mogul, the Xorda…they all had power too, 'n' they all thought we were nothing compared to them. Same old…same old song 'n' dance…they lost. YOU lost...because…"

For the briefest of moments, he saw all of them…his family…his friends…Sally…right before his eyes clear as day. That was the reason Robotnik had lost in the end. Why Eggman and Mogul and Naugus all failed. It was an image that faded quickly, however, as the soft sensitive sting turned to sharp stabbing pain. Blood trickled down Sonic's body as Daxis' claws drilled into his scar. **"Lost? There is no LOSS for me, 'Hero', only infinitesimal delays!"** the Walker snapped furiously.

Sonic tried his best not to scream, but the squirming tentacle slowly burrowing into his body made that impossible. Howling out in pain, he thrashed about, trying harder and harder to bust out of the Walker's body. Yet this time, there was no give to the crimson robe. It held him down strong and tight, forcing him to endure. **"Crow all you want about the strength your bonds of Friendship have given…think all you wish of how deep your affections for the Child run…but in the end, your Blood is MARKED by my touch…and I can see through it into EVERYTHING you are." **Daxis growled, a strange hunger in his voice.

Deeper and deeper the wraith's claws sank. At first they felt like hot metal, but as they crawled down further they began to feel…cold. Ice cold. "L…look all ya want," Sonic spat in challenge, trying to ignore the biting shiver racking his body. "You…won't…find anything…"

Yet even as he said it, Sonic felt the claws clench inside of him. Shrieking out in pain, his mind filled with horrid images. Charred trees strewn across a burning landscape…houses crumbling to ash…and in the middle of all, Sally was staring up at him in horror. Antoine, Bunnie, Rotor…all were by her side, all shared her frightened expression. **"Hm hm…your time in my service wasn't the first time you've fought your friends, I see…"** Sonic heard the Walker's clearly-amused voice over the scene...and slowly, he began to realize why it all looked so familiar.

Looking down, he felt his blood chill at the sight of his hand: metal where once was flesh, a blaster warm from having just fired jutting out of his wrist. **"Quite the thrill, wasn't it?" **Daxis taunted. **"Getting to let go of your inhibitions…running wild with Power, no need to regard the safety of others for once…you enjoyed that, didn't you?"**

"Being Roboticized was a nightmare!" Sonic hissed, closing his eyes and trying to will the memory away. "I NEVER wanted to hurt my friends!"

Against his will, the hedgehog's eyes opened, and a stream of crimson energy blasted out of them, igniting another batch of Huts and trees. **"Yet I can **_**feel **_**it…" **Daxis said, breath deep as if he was taking in some wonderful aroma. **"Buried beneath the fear and confusion, there is glorious **_**exhilaration…"**_

The fires finally began to fade. The cold, mechanized shell of Metal Sonic seemed to peel away like dead skin. Only now, there was another familiar and unwanted image from the past standing in front of him. Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, and Tails…all crumpled on the ground. He was in the heart of the Freedom Fighters' base, on a mission for…Robotnik? **"Ahh…ANOTHER battle with your friends…for people you supposedly care for, you've come into conflict with them quite often…"**

"Not…my fault…" Sonic insisted weakly. "Robotnik…he messed with my head…"

**"Yes…but you still DREAM of these battles, don't you? You still think long and hard about what they were like…what it felt like to apply your power without Rules. Without restrictions." **Daxis whispered exuberantly, taking in the wondrously conflicted sensations pulsing through his prey.

He gasped suddenly, eyes widening as his claws sensed a deep, lingering darkness within Sonic's blood…a memory from another time. The wraith's claws clenched, and Sonic watched as the world in front of his eyes morphed again, a whirl of colors dissolving one scene into the next. This time, however, Sonic felt himself moving with it…his body and thoughts shifting into the flow of change. **"No excuses now, are there?"** Daxis asked as this new scene set itself. **"This time…it was you and ONLY you ready to break those chains…ready to cut loose with all you had…"**

Sonic was now in a deep, dank cave. His body was covered in bruises and cuts, and a pair of hard and fierce hands were gripping down at his shoulder and head. Pressing back up fiercely, animalistically, he could feel the strain of physical and emotional exhaustion gnawing at his very bone. He was grappling with Geoffrey St. John, exchanging heated words with the skunk, but that was only vaguely known to him. All that mattered was the rage…the blood-pumping RAGE that was the only thing that kept his body moving in that moment. Sally was dead, the world blamed him, he had been chased over and under and all around and he was tired and angry and Sally was _dead_ and…

**"And you want HIM dead too, don't you? You want to finally cut loose, let go, end it…you can do it…you have the POWER…"**

"NO!!!"

With a sudden gasp, Sonic felt himself awaken. The memory was still there, but he no longer felt like he was inside it…he knew where he really was. "I'm not…" he urged strenuously, still feeling the sting as Daxis' claws probed inside him. "Not…like…that…

The push and pull of the Walker's flowing form felt stronger against Sonic's body, like the pull of the ocean tide sucking him off the beach. **"But you ARE, my little 'Hero'…"** Daxis hissed, his head suddenly emerging directly in front of Sonic's face. **"For all your pretensions of nobility, in the end your actions are NEVER about love or honor or duty…they're all about that next thrill, that next rush. THAT's why it was so easy for Lilith to seduce you: because you'd grown bored of only applying yourself in the ways Heroism demands. You were ready to find a NEW path, a more PRIMAL path that would unleash all the pent-up energy inside you and lash out against EVERYTHING…friend, foe, what would it matter?"**

Sinking…Sonic felt himself sinking beneath the Red. His breath grew shallow, the claws felt sharper. "…you're…wrong…" he protested weakly, finding it hard to even speak anymore.

**"I'm right. And you KNOW I'm right."** Daxis laughed triumphantly.

Pressing his cold forehead against Sonic's, the wraith looked him straight in the eye. **"Tell me, brat…how does it feel?" **he asked, sadistic joy dripping off every word. **"How does it feel to know everything you tell yourself you are is a delusion? That you're nothing more but a bloodthirsty animal looking for the next Kill to sate his desire? How does it feel to choke on your own Soul?"**

Sonic's thrashing had calmed. His struggles had weakened. Though he still looked Daxis square in those blood-red eyes, his body was simply falling deeper into the wraith's formless being. Daxis pushed him down, ready to feast on even MORE life force. _**"Can you sense it, Child?"**_he thought proudly, eyes looking up to where he knew his true prey still rested. _**"I have your friend on the edge of Death…come save him, if you can…"**_

XXX

Sally gasped, clutching her sides as she felt those words force their way into her thoughts…felt as if her own hands were around Sonic's throat, choking all life out of him. The strange, ethereal connection that still tethered the Princess to the wraith had focused at his command, forcing  
Sally to feel what Daxis felt: wave after wave of suffering heaped upon the helpless hedgehog with sadistic glee. _"Leave him alone…let him go!" _she thought angrily, even as she noticed the others approach her in concern.

Just as suddenly as the pressure had come, it left, and Sally backed away with a second gasp, pressing her back to the wall for balance. Her body still felt sick, a back-of-her-mind queasiness that served to remind her that while the closer, deadlier encounter had passed, the underlying link beneath it still remained. "Sally…" Knuckles spoke cautiously, aware of what had likely just happened.

"He's…using Sonic as bait…" Sally answered roughly, struggling with short and heavy breaths. "…torturing him…near to death…"

All those around her could hear the sheer, knee-buckling pressure in her voice. None of them had anything to offer. What solution was there? Going back was far too dangerous; Daxis had shown himself to be a force to be reckoned with as he was, there was no doubt he could make good of his designs for Mobius if he were to complete his body. She could not be allowed to fall into his clutches again. Leaving Sonic behind, however, was also unacceptable for obvious reasons. Of course, that was not a unanimous belief. "We…we should leave…" the Arachne spoke up softly, clearly uncomfortable in his suggestion. "It is…it's the only thing we can do. The hedgehog sacrificed himself to protect you, Child…and the Chosen One must be taken out of danger as well. Your…your lives outweigh his…"

There was little conviction in the spider's words, taken as they were from the fogged and blurry memories of his Master…the only thing of the Source that remained. Yet he knew them to be his mission. No matter how much it seemed cold and unfeeling to him now, the spider knew that mission was sacred and had to be followed. "Not how we do things…" Knuckles answered curtly. "Still…going back without a plan is as good as suicide…"

"Our odds would be better if we could get that Monster outside." Julie-Su offered as coolly as she could. "At least then he wouldn't have so much control of the terrain."

"But how do we do that?" Tails asked.

"You don't."

Everyone turned in surprise at the new voice coming from down the Hall. Sally recognized it instantly. "Amodeus…" she hissed lowly, feeling herself recovering and readying for another fight.

Yet as the elderly goat came into view, his gait was so haggard, his face showed such obvious exhaustion…it looked as if he might collapse at any second, leaning as he was upon his staff for support. Whatever fight he could give, Sally realized it probably would not amount to much. That, however, begged the question of why he'd chosen to reveal himself. "You're still alive…all of you…" the shaman observed, the feeling in his strained voice allusive. "Quite…quite an impressive feat…"

He slipped on the ground, stumbling for a step before recovering. "What do you want?" Julie-Su asked pointedly, laser rifle aimed at the goat.

"To see…a better tomorrow…" he answered, coughing harshly between words. "That's…all…I've ever wanted…"

He slumped against the wall suddenly. "It seems…seems I may have overexerted myself…trying to do so…" he chuckled ruefully, a laugh that briefly hinted at sobbing before it finished.

None of the others said anything. None of them were quite sure what to say. Snarling out suddenly in rage, Amodeus looked up at Sally, his open eye quivering. She saw in his gaze the eye of a man scorned, a man whose faith had proven misplaced. The squirrel realized with no small amount of unease that he was not looking at her…but into her. To the blood which had mingled with the Source of All. With a deep, guttural sigh, the Shaman's eye drifted back down to the ground. "I fear…I've lost my way…" he said, his voice devoid for the first time of any edge. "I thought I'd found it again…but I believe now I was mistaken…"

Slowly, Sally approached the shriveled goat with tentative steps. She had witnessed for herself the wild shifts in mood that Amodeus had displayed throughout her stay in the Temple, but this…this was something else. This was the first true sign of doubt she had seen in the Shaman, and that meant there was a chance…a chance to save Sonic. "Sally…!" Knuckles whispered sharply at her, not nearly so convinced.

She knelt down in front of Amodeus, ready to move at the first sign of trouble…but feeling increasingly certain there was not going to be any the more time passed. Resting his head upon his knee, the goat groaned, this time out of pain. "I wanted…wanted to believe…SO badly…" he said, voice now tinged in clear anguish. "But…the God I chose to believe in…the WORLD I wanted to believe in…I've seen now…neither one can ever truly exist…"

He coughed again, leading Sally to reach out to him. He quickly batted her hands away, weak though his arm was. "D…don't…misunderstand…" he growled. "I turned away from YOUR ways a long time ago…and I have no intent of turning back…but…"

A light cracking noise emanate from his staff...Amodeus' grip on it had grown strong enough to splinter some of the wood. "…but at least with you…the world still has a hope of changing…"

Suddenly, a mighty wind began to twist around his body. The staff's wooden form slowly peeled away, transforming from mere wood into a pillar of flame that seeped through the cracks between Amodeus' fingers. Beams of light began to peak out of his body, coalescing into an ever-growing orb of brilliant white that slowly began to encompass the entire hall. Blood slowly trickled out of his nose…his ears…his eyes…it was all but too much for his already-weakened old body to bear, pushing the spell this far…but it was what had to be done. "Amodeus…" Sally whispered pleadingly as she saw the toll he was enduring.

"No…words, Child…" he rasped, feeling his heart beating slower and slower as the light continued its expansion. "I don't deserve…a Farewell…"  
With one final lurch, the light became all consuming.

XXX

"Come on. COME ON!"

Geoffrey's hands moved desperately across the tapestry of Mobius. He and the others were all searching for a way back inside, ANY way. Alas, though they had been searching since rousing from unconsciousness, they had yet to find one. "Please…" one of the Arachne begged of the skunk, "there is no way back into the Temple. Only those with blood marked by Daxis can enter…"

"I know that!" Geoffrey snapped sternly. "You explained before. But our friends, your BROTHER, are still inside there, and we can't just…leave them!"

The ninjas shared a glance with each other at his words, falling silent. "Our spider friends have a point." Rotor observed, still tracing his finger along the wall of the domed building. Even as Geoffrey turned a heated gaze to him, he continued, "I'm not saying 'give up', but simply looking around isn't going to help. Given how entry into the Temple works, the Order had no need to build doors, secret or otherwise. We're not going to get anywhere this way."

"Then what do you suggest?" Geoffrey asked, clenching the tapestry as he realized the walrus was right.

"Hmm…how about heading that way?" Hershey asked, pointing out into the rain that still poured over the fields.

"Why, luv?"

"Because there's a big glowing light over there."

Geoffrey, Rotor, and the Arachne all turned to the cat. Following her finger, they saw the sphere of white off in the distance and past the hills. "Let's go!" Geoffrey ordered, running off with the others not far behind.

XXX

It took Sally a minute to soak in the scene that emerged from the fading light. Rain pouring down heavily upon her…fields and hills all around…Knuckles, Julie-Su, Tails, and the Arachne nearby…and Daxis, looking confused and enraged, looming high above her. At her feet, Amodeus lay limp on the ground, crumpled like a discarded rag. Sally felt a deep sting of sorrow at the sight…but though she did not let that feeling fade from her thoughts, the Princess knew why the Shaman had made that monumental sacrifice…the opportunity he had given them, stripping Daxis of his malleable battlefield. Part of her wished it was not so easy to process it like that…

**"Traitor…"**

Daxis. His eyes were fixed squarely on Amodeus' corpse. Every inch of his body throbbed and bubbled, anger emanating from the entirety of his being as he hovered over the goat's lifeless body. Sally did not back away as he approached, however. Not yet. She wanted to…the fury she felt pumping through him into her was like a berserker army raging in War…but not yet. She had to see first…

**"TRAITOR!!!"**

Like a tidal wave of spears, the wraith's body sharpened and struck down toward Sally and Amodeus both. The Princess leapt out of the way, a small and irrational flicker of regret at not being able to drag Amodeus to safety as well hitting her as she watched the goat sink beneath the jagged tide. Still, her eyes remained focused on the Walker's body as it burrowed deep into the ground, looking…looking…THERE! It was brief, it was small, but she saw him. Just barely, through the folds and gaps, she saw Sonic. Struggling. _Alive_. And as that all-too-brief vision passed beneath the ground, a piercing sensation cut through the Princess right down to her very being. Sadness…doubt…regret…for a moment, she believed it to be her own emotions stirred by Daxis once again, but she realized soon that they were not her thoughts…but Sonic's. She could feel him through Daxis, and they weighed every bit as heavily upon the Hedgehog as they had upon her. "Get back from there!"

Julie-Su, grabbing her shoulder, pulling her away…! "It's Sonic!" Sally responded quickly. "Sonic's inside his body, we have to get him out before it's too late!"

"_Inside_?" the echidna asked in disbelief, wondering how it was this day kept finding things to surprise her with. Still, it was an easy enough surprise with which to deal. "Fine…then let's get messy."

Releasing her hold on the squirrel, Julie-Su cocked her Blaster and motioned for the Arachne to join her. While the spider hesitated, Knuckles, Tails still leaning on his shoulder, stepped forward. The young fox slowly eased away from him, feeling a bit more able, and joined with Julie-Su as well. "Knuckles…" Julie-Su whispered tensely.

"I know, I know…" The Guardian replied, "but…you'll need all the help you can get."

Looking at the three of them, standing together and ready to fight, Sally braced herself as well. There was terrible risk in placing herself within Daxis' reach, she knew, but that risk was outweighed...by the connection she shared with the Walker which gave her a critical insight into his movements…by the knowledge that the risk did not simply disappear if she stood back…by the fact that she could never live with shirking from a risk her friends embraced so readily…and because Sonic needed her. Those terrible emotions storming around inside him she'd felt so clearly before… they were just like the ones she'd been forced to confront during this ordeal. And he was sinking beneath them just like she had. She had to let him know…just like he had for her…

"I'm going too." She stated firmly, both to herself and to the others.

"You…you mustn't!"

It was the Arachne. He had not moved since Julie-Su had signaled for him, instead stuck to the spot as if magnetized. "If Daxis absorbs you…the Blood Pact will be completed, and his body will be restored completely." The spider said, clearly frightened. "If that happens…if his full power returns…"

A sudden gasp from Sally stopped the Arachne's sentence from finishing. "He's coming!" she shouted, feeling the wraith's fervent anger shooting up toward them.

Sally, Knuckles, Tails, and Julie-Su ran away from the cut in the ground Daxis' previous impact had made just as he soared out of it, body ablaze in crimson light, howling with anger. **"My Shaman…MY Shaman!!!" **he seethed incoherently. **"He dares to betray ME? DARES to turn his back on ALL we worked for…!"**

The clawed edges of his body dug into the ground as he stomped about, head swiveling around desperately. And then…he settled upon a lone, trembling figure beneath him. One of The Source's Bugs, too frightened to move. Anger still seethed from him, but Daxis felt calmed by the promise of fresh meat. Small comfort, but it would have to do.

Looking up from his quivering position on the ground, the disoriented Arachne could only watch in terror as one of the Wraith's claws slowly rose out of the dirt, sharp and ready to pierce. Coated in the shadows of the storm-filled sky, the already-imposing Walker looked all the more frightening. It was truly a delight to see that fear in the spider's eyes for Daxis…the fear he would bring to every last one of the wretched crawlers who infected this world. Mixed with his rage, it made him all the more dangerous. Raising his claw to the sky, he crooked his head softly, whispering, **"What's wrong? Abandoned, little one? Betrayed?"**

Not too far away, the others turned back and realized they'd lost one of their number.

**"I sympathize." **Daxis continued to taunt his helpless victim. **"Indeed, I too have been betrayed…"**

Sally and Julie-Su immediately began dashing forward, Tails and Knuckles not far behind.

**"…so do not worry, little one…the Source may have abandoned you, but I am a **_**true **_**God…I will cease the feelings that torment you so!" **Daxis' claw plunged downward…

With Julie-Su taking the lead, Sally motioned for Knuckles and Tails to follow her as she subtly broke away from the pink echidna. Sure enough, the serpentine claw of Daxis swerved at the last second toward her, even as another crawled out of his body to take its place in attacking the Arachne. **"I extend the offer to you as well, Child!"**

The Princess rolled out of the way of the incoming claw, and when it began to continue after her, she lifted her hands up as if in surrender. It did not slow the tendril's approach, but it was not meant to. Reacting instantly, Tails took to the sky, swooping forward and lifting Sally up into the air. At the same time, Julie-Su scooped the terrified Arachne into her arms, dashing past just in time to avoid the new-born claw's sharp thrust. **"Come at me! All of you!" **Daxis laughed, the thrill of battle further fueling him. **"Come alone, or all at once, or in pairs, or in THOUSANDS! Or perhaps you'd prefer to perish running away from me? Hm hm hm…so many flavors of Death, so little time…"**

His two claws began to stretch out towards their targets, one up in the air toward Sally and Tails, the other along the ground toward Julie-Su and the Arachne. A third slowly crept out of the seemingly-never ending mass of Daxis' body, aimed squarely at Knuckles, who could only stand, watch, and wait. Then, against the rumble of the thunder, a soft whistle cut through the air. Immediately, all three arms converged into one another, forming a single wall of red in front of Daxis' head into which sped a sharp arrow. "Keep that cloak up, mate; I'd rather not have to keep looking at that ugly mug o' yours!"

Running toward the battle while reloading his crossbow, Geoffrey led Hershey, Rotor, and the other two Arachne bringing up the rear. "Reinforcements at last…" Knuckles sighed in relief as Sally and Tails landed next to him.

"**Just more bodies for the pile…"** Daxis snorted, reabsorbing his shield into the rest of his body.

"Wonderful to see you up and about, luv!" Geoffrey greeted his Princess, though his eyes and bow remained locked on Daxis. "Mind filling me in on what we've missed and just what in the blazes THAT nasty critter is?"

Sally shook her head. She could feel it…cold…darkness…slipping…there wasn't much time left. "Long story, I'll have to fill you in later." She answered solemnly, then added softly, "Sorry I can't give you a better greeting at the moment."

The skunk couldn't help but smile a bit at that. _"Same old Sally…"_

"Here he comes again!" Knuckles warned as Daxis began to claw his way toward them.

Geoffrey immediately fired at the demon. "Move!" he shouted, his arrow flying straight towards Daxis' skull, only for another tendril to emerge from within his form and swat it out of the air.

Even as she joined Knuckles and Hershey in moving out on one side of Geoffrey while Rotor, Tails, and the Arachne went in the opposite direction, Sally felt a brief…flicker…across her body as she watched Daxis deflect the arrow. It was all but impossible to fully sense beneath the drowning squall of Sonic's emotions still pouring out at her, but Sally was sure it was there. _"Something about the arrow…it was different from all our other attacks against him…but how?"_she pondered.

Continuing his savage march toward the fleeing Freedom Fighters, the sheer heat of Daxis' anger made it difficult for the Princess to ponder that question. The wraith lashed out toward them, only for a barrage of laser-fire to distract him from finishing the attack. As they had before, Julie-Su's shots passed harmlessly through Daxis' blood-colored body, but the echidna was persistent. Feeding on the intensity of the atmosphere around her, she continued her attack while Sally and the others attempted to use the time she'd granted them. "This one's got your name on it, Demon!" she shouted, the Arachne she'd saved now nestled on the ground below, quivering in terror.

The next shot proved a surprise: this time, Daxis did not simply take it, but instead dodged out of the way. Again, Sally felt that strange twinge. _"The lasers as well…?"_ she wondered, watching the serpent-like movements of her enemy as he repositioned himself.

And as he continued snaking about, that was when realization dawned on the Princess. _"His skull…"_ she realized, seeing how he was consistently moving to keep it out of harm's way. _"His skull is vulnerable somehow! He's been trying to protect it from attack!"_

Whatever doubts she may have had that her conclusion was wrong were erased when the Walker turned his eyes on her with full intensity the moment that thought crossed her mind. **"How much longer do you intend to waste your finite lives struggling against me?" **he roared, twin tendrils forming from his body: one launched at Julie-Su, the other at Sally.

"THE SKULL!!!" Sally shouted at the top of her lungs, over the storm's thunder and the cracking of the ground as Daxis once again hit muddy turf in place of his elusive targets. "THE SKULL IS HIS WEAK POINT, FOCUS YOUR ATTACKS THERE!!!"

Without need for further instruction, Geoffrey and Julie-Su took the Princess' advice to heart, firing their respective weapons at Daxis' head as fast and as furiously as they could. Bobbing and weaving around the beams, blocking and crushing the arrows, the Walker did not seem daunted. **"Your struggle is hopless!" **he taunted. **"My body is incomplete, but even at this repressed level, I'm more than a match for **_**you **_**miserable sub-creatures!"**

Just then, however, two unexpected new weapons disrupted his movement: a pair of kunai, with a strong chain linked through their hilts. The Walker was caught off-guard and unable to dodge in time; the daggers passed by unimpeded, holding the chain taut until it collided with Daxis' body and, through the force of its carriers, wrapped around him tightly. Taken by surprise, the Walker's bound body flopped to the grass. "Fascinating…" Rotor observed aloud from the sidelines, "Energy Constructs such as laser-fire pass through his body, but physical objects like metal can still affect him…"

"Nice to see you two pullin' your weight again." Geoffrey teased as he reloaded, knowing just who had scored their first blow against the Walker.

"We…apologize…for our earlier inaction…"

The two Arachne seemed to appear from nowhere at the skunk's side, though in truth they'd been there the whole time. "We are not used to…life without…The Source…" one of them said. "But that does not excuse us…"

"Apologies later!" Geoffrey ordered, moving toward the incapacitated Daxis while reloading his crossbow. "Let's finish what you started!"

Both spiders nodded, following him. Julie-Su was also on the move, leaving the third Arachne alone with newfound shame; where he now shirked in fear, his brothers acted with courage. Even without The Source to guide them…it boiled in his gut

Thrashing about, the chains holding him down already beginning to snap, Daxis hissed and growled savagely as his encroaching enemies circled him. "Shoot, shoot, SHOOT!!!" Geoffrey ordered emphatically.

It was too late. With a ferocious, bloodcurdling howl, the wraith broke off his bonds, sending his tendrils flying out wildly, both to attack his foes and defend himself. Uncoordinated though it was, his assault proved effective. Geoffrey, Julie-Su, the Arachne…all four found themselves struck by the Walker's razor-edged arms, cut badly and fallen to the ground. "JULIE-SU…!!!" Knuckles shrieked helplessly from the sidelines.

**"I warned you…"** Daxis growled, rising over them like a typhoon ready to consume its helpless victims. **"But you didn't listen. Your kind NEVER listens…"**

With all his murderous heart now focused on the struggling prey beneath him, Daxis' claws bared sharply, plunging down mercilessly. Too far away to help, Sally watched the attack as if it were in slow motion. _"No…"_ her mind begged desperately, searching for a way to save them….the Arachne, Geoffrey, Sonic…she couldn't let it end like this.

"NO!!!"

It was a thought to which she attached herself completely and utterly, both a plea and a battle cry…the cumulative toll of the battle's strain and the brilliant flare of defiance…sharpened and shot, lit and exploded, pouring from her mind out of her lips like a force of nature unleashed upon the world. It was every emotion she had, raging out in a sudden violent burst.

And in its wake, Daxis felt it clench inside of him.

For a single moment, the sheer intensity of her cry barreled into him like a drill through the link that connected their spirits, causing the wraith to flinch. It was only a moment, though…a blink of an eye. To him, it was all but nothing. But it was time still lost. And in that lost moment, a new weapon speared its way toward him. Another kunai, one that hit its mark perfectly. Sally watched it move, felt her spirits soar as it ledged itself inside Daxis' skull, right in the center of the mark made from her blood.

"You…will _not _harm…my brothers…!" a trembling but stern voice shouted as the weapon's blade sunk into its target.

Standing up now, arm outstretched from its fierce toss, the third Arachne still felt his body trembling and his heart pounding, fear eating away at his every nerve. But…his brothers had felt that same fear, and still acted to fulfill their Mission. To protect them…he could do no less. "GO, PRINCESS!" he shouted, "THE MARK IS PIERCED, HIS LINK TO OUR WORLD IS DISRUPTED!!!"

Sally knew even as she heard the words that they were true. For the first time since her dreams had become a constant pattern of Nightmares, the claws held around her heart felt…loosened. Still there, but not as strong. And that meant her chance was now. _"Hang on, Sonic…hang on, everyone…"_ she thought, taking off toward the now-throbbing wraith.

Knuckles wanted to object, but he knew this was something she needed to do. Instead, he followed her up to where Julie-Su, Geoffrey, and the Arachne now lay. "Are you OK?" he asked the pink echidna softly, propping her up.

"Been…better…" she murmured, hissing a bit as the scratched area on her stomach flared in pain. "But…still good…"

Knuckles sighed in relief; the others seemed to be OK as well, though their wounds were deep. Taking Julie-Su over his shoulder, he turned to watch as Sally continued her dash toward Daxis. _"Good luck…Sally…"_ he thought anxiously.

**"You…can't…"** Daxis' voice scratched out to the squirrel, flickering in and out, intensity wobbling up and down. **"YOU CAN'T…DO THIS…"**

Even as he struggled to move, the Walker's body slowly trembled like his voice. Suddenly, it split open, tendrils and claws thrashing about aimlessly. Daxis screamed in agony, the blood on his skull moving about as wildly as his body. This sudden outburst of chaos did not stifle the incoming Princess; on the contrary, looking through the vines of crimson, she could see…exposed plainly at the center, still embedded within…

"SONIC!!!" she shouted out to the trapped hedgehog.

Something was wrong. Before, when she'd seen him, it had looked like he was struggling, but now…his eyes were closed and his body was completely still. Was she too late…? _"No, I can't think like that!"_ she told herself sharply, now right at the tip of Daxis' splitting arms. _"If there's even a small chance, I have to take it…"_  
That was the thought…the hope…that the squirrel used to push her feet to the ground and leap straight toward Daxis' core. Her hands latched firmly onto the hedgehog's sides, though beyond them his body was submerged within the wraith's chaotic form. "Sonic…" she grunted stressfully, trying to pull him out..and failing, "Sonic, can you hear me?"

No answer. She kept pulling, even as strands of Daxis cut at her arms. "Please…Sonic…" she continued urging, feeling Daxis' body wriggle and writhe against her fingers. "I _know _you can break free…"

Knuckles, meanwhile, had received help from the third Arachne in bringing Julie-Su, Geoffrey, and the other Spider Ninjas to safety. Rotor and Hershey joined up with them, checking each one's wounds. "Hope I didn't…give you too much of a fright, luv…" Geoffrey said softly to Hershey, trying to sit up despite his injury.

"You? Never." The cat replied, though it was clear she was lying. Keeping her husband steady (and laid down), she turned an eye to the Arachne brothers. "You spiders…you know more about how all this works than any of us. What's going to happen to Daxis now?"

The three ninjas looked cautiously at each other before the unwounded one spoke, "He is wounded, but only just. Before long, the damage to his link will heal, and his current form will be restored..."

Indeed, when Hershey and the others turned their eyes to the primordial thrashing of Daxis' wild body, they could see it: the kunai in his skull was slowly but surely being pushed back out, the markings of blood it had cut off beginning to reform around it. "…unless…", the Arachne continued, "…unless the Princess can give him a more grievous wound before he heals, something harder to recover from. Combined with the wound he has already received, it could be enough to stop him…"

"A more grievous wound…" Knuckles repeated thoughtfully. "Like…breaking his hold on Sonic…?"

The spider nodded. "He is feeding on Sonic's lifeforce…but if the Princess can free him, the backlash would harm the Forbidden Walker severely."

"Then we gotta help her!" Tails said frantically, already lifting off.

He found himself grounded by a firm hand on his shoulder. "No…" Knuckles said, eyes now fixed on the Princess and the hedgehog. "Sally is the only one who can do this…right now, we'll only get in the way…"

The fox relented with no small amount of hesitation, turning his own gaze toward the battle. "But the _second _she needs us…" he promised beneath his breath, "we'll go."

Truth be told, if she believed it would do any good, Sally would not have minded calling for that very help just then. Her body was slowly but surely becoming peppered with scars from Daxis' out-of-control limbs, and despite her best efforts, Sonic would not budge. That did not stop the Princess, though. She kept pulling. She kept talking, hoping something would get through. "Please…" she begged in a gasp, feeling her chest tighten with each second as the beast she and Sonic were entwined with slowly moved toward healing himself fully. "Even if you can't feel me…or see me…please at least be able to _hear_ me…"

She dug her nails into the red ooze sharply, feeling the hedgehog's body on her fingertips. "I know what he's doing to you, Sonic," she said, "what he's putting you through. He reached inside of you…took out the deepest, darkest parts of you he could find and rubbed your face in them…made you _drown_ in them…"

A flash…sudden and sharp...coursed through Sally's mind then. Memories…Mecha-Sonic's attack on Knothole, Sonic's amnesiac fight, a tussle with Geoffrey…and her, lit by the glow of the Temple's crystals, crumpled at his feet in pain…she saw them all pass through her mind's eye in a split-second. So this was what Daxis had found to use against Sonic…at least now she knew. At least she'd gotten a reaction. "I know how you're feeling right now, Sonic," she continued urgently, "You're doubting yourself…everything you are, or were, or ever thought you'd be…"

The shrill screech of the Walker roared out around Sally, trying to drown out her words. Yet she would not be silenced. "But I know those doubts are wrong!" she shouted above Daxis' din. "Because I know _you_, Sonic Maurice Hedgehog!"

Her hand suddenly slipped, sinking deeper into the red before she yanked it back up. The Walker was almost there now…time was running short very quickly. Renewing her grip, she placed her forehead upon Sonic's, a soft motion but a strong touch. "I know you…and that's why I know…what happened to you, what drove you to them…I understand now, what they did to you. But I also know…no matter what part of you they used, no matter what they made you think…in the end, you are the same hedgehog I have always known. This…this fight…it isn't your fault, Sonic. It's mine."

Her voice was no longer loud or frightened. It had hushed down into a gentle, intimate whisper. Yet she saw Sonic's ears flicker just a bit as she spoke. She knew, at last, she had gotten through, if only so much. "I was scared…scared of how it felt to finally have this deep, powerful thing I'd kept inside for _years _out in the open, and I didn't know how to handle it. I pushed you away, just like they wanted…"

The smallest hint of give from the constriction…

"But I'm done being scared. I'm done trying to hide what I feel. Sonic…Sonic Maurice Hedgehog…we have shared so much together. _Lived _so much together. No matter what tries to pull us apart…those ties bind us together always. No one…not Father, not Geoffrey, not Lilith, not Daxis…_no one _can take that away from us. So focus on those ties, Sonic. Focus on those memories…"

Daxis' claws closed in slowly, even as the hedgehog's eyes finally opened. The Princess felt her breath catch in her chest briefly at the sight of those eyes…his, but so…_empty_. He looked up at Sally as if trapped in a dream. "…Sal…" Sonic spoke, voice coarse and deflated, "…I want to...I do…but…I can't. I threw all those memories away…because…I couldn't be the person you needed me to be. Even now…I can still remember the life they gave me…the person they made me. _That's _who I really am, Sal…that arrogant, selfish guy just lookin' for the next chance to show off, no matter who it hurts…"

To her own surprise, Sally laughed, softly and soothingly. Even as one of her hands continued to pull him away from the wraith, the other reached up and touched his cheek. "Haven't you been listening?" she asked him, voice still not rising above a delicate whisper. "I _know _who you really are…I've _seen _who you really are…"

More flashes. But these were not memories Sally received. They were memories she _gave_.

_Within Robotropolis…Sally's body was no longer flesh and fur, but metal, and she stood with an ice cold gaze looking into a Roboticizer tube, where Sonic's palms were pressed to the glass, his voice pleading with her. Her hand hovered over the button that would seal his fate…but it was staid…_

_Soft glow illuminated them in Knothole…a celebration, long awaited…she delicately hung the medal of honor around the hedgehog's neck with a tender touch. He hadn't just beaten Robotnik; he'd saved her life…_

_The city, smoldering around them…the attack from above still pouring down in all its fury…yet despite the chaos, the only thing she could look at now was him. He was home. After so long away, Sonic was finally home…_

_Side by side in the comfort of the Palace… she garbed in a more regal garb than usual, he in uncharacteristic armor… dressed for a special occasion: at long last, Sonic had earned Knighthood. A kiss to his cheek was Sally's own reward to the hedgehog…_

_A remote cliff…the world falling apart at its seams…and he had to leave again. She desperately wished he didn't, but she knew he did…and so she held him, and kissed him, and told him again and again how she felt. Because Sonic was a part of Sally, and she could not stand to lose him again…_

"Sonic…no matter your faults or your failings, you could never truly be that person Daxis molded. That person could never do what you do, _give _what you gave…to Knothole, to Mobius…to me."

Tears welled up in Sally's eyes. "You're a pigheaded show-off who always puts speed before common sense," she said, whisper rising into a plea…a confession… "…and I've seen you give so much of yourself for the people you care about, and not just playing the Hero or fighting the War. You've been a shoulder for your friends to cry on, a voice to give them encouragement. It's all you, Sonic…and that's just the way it should be. Because if any of it was different, you wouldn't _be _you anymore."

**"BE…SI…LENT…" **Daxis struggled to interrupt, his hands all but completely enclosed upon them now…

But Sally, crying plainly now, paid him no heed. His voice held no power over her any longer. "And I _love _you, Sonic. More than I can ever tell you, more than I can ever show you…I love you so much!"

She shouted. She pulled. And this time, there was no resistance. A burst of emotions and memories coursed out, bursting like a sunrise into the darkness. Daxis broke apart again, his tendrils snapping as if they'd been heated to dust, and Sonic flew from his claws into Sally's arms, the two falling out of the towering demon back into the pounding of the rain of the storm.

Crimson strands shriveling away, Daxis' screams of anguish were like a howling wind, mixing with the storm to create an unholy din. His blazing eyes dulled and weakened, skull cracking and splintering. **"CURSE YOU…"** he howled in pain and fury, **"YOU CANNOT DENY ME MY BIRTHRIGHT…YOU CANNOT ROB ME OF LIFE AGAIN…"**

Beneath him, the ground began to tremble and quake, shattering along with his power. **"I AM A GOD OF THIS WORLD…ITS PROTECTOR AND ITS SAVIOR…"** he continued to rant even as his form thinned and dissipated, **"ONE DAY…I **_**WILL **_**CLAIM IT…FOR DEATH CANNOT CLAIM **_**ME**_**, AND SO…ALL I HAVE LEFT TO DO…IS WAIT!!!"**

And with those final words, the remains of Daxis-a cracking skull filled with dull light in its eyes connected to wisps of crimson so thin as to be all but invisible-sunk into the broken ground, plummeting into its deepest depths…and vanishing from sight.

As he fell away, Sally and Sonic landed from their fall, tumbling through the wet grass. All the while, the Princess could hear his voice…Sonic's voice…speaking from the past, from _his _memories and thoughts…

_"Don't you go changin' on me, Sally Acorn…"_

_"Come back, Sal…I need you…"_

_"What would I do without ya?"_

_"Heh…she cares."_

_"I'll come back, Sal…I promise…"_

_"Know that for a fact: I'm gonna get you out of here, Sal. Because I love you…"_

At last, they stopped rolling. Sally's back lay on the ground, Sonic's limp form on top of her. In moments, they were surrounded by their friends, standing in a protective circle around them. It was all so much to take in at once…as the voice of Sonic's past faded, the squirrel looked to him, hopeful to see him move…hear him truly speak…

"...and I thought…_I _was the one who liked cutting it close…" he finally coughed, eyes now looking into hers again, the light of life restored to them.

Sally, tears still staining her face, laughed and sobbed at the same time, her arms tightening around him all the more. "Thank you…thank you, thank you, thank you…" she whispered over and over again, nuzzling against his shoulder.

"I think…_I'm_ the one in the Thank You position right now, Sal…" Sonic replied, still limp atop her body.

She smiled even as she continued to cry, simply replying, "Let's just call it even for now, OK?"

Knuckles grinned, averting his eyes from their happy little scene. No need to interrupt. Tails, however, was less courteous. "YOU'RE OK!!!" he shouted joyously, kneeling down to them both and wrapping his arms around them. "YOU'RE BOTH OK!!!"

Hershey chuckled at the young fox's antics, while Sally returned his embrace happily, Sonic still unable to quite move but content to simply smile at his friend. The Arachne walked up alongside Knuckles, looking at the chasm into which Daxis had fallen. "So…is he dead?" the Guardian asked them sternly.

They all looked to each other. "We don't know for sure," one of them answered at last. "If he _is _alive, however, his powers are greatly weakened. The Princess wounded him deeply, releasing the life force he had absorbed and cutting off the bridge between worlds. He will no longer be able to heal himself, and will most likely remain trapped beneath the surface of Mobius forever…"

Knuckles grunted a bit, not quite satisfied with the answer. Feeling Julie-Su's hand upon his shoulder, however, he found it at least a little bit easier to live with.

Rotor helped Sally and the weak Sonic to their feet, Geoffrey fiddling with his radio to try and get a signal through the storm. "Welcome back, both of you." The walrus said warmly, giving his friends a powerful bear hug.

"Thanks, Rote…" Sonic answered gently, leaning on him and then Sally for support.

Sally simply nodded to the mechanic. She had no words right now. After all this…all the suffering and violence and effort and destruction and revelation…it was over. She could still feel the faintest trace of Daxis, lingering inside her like a scar…she suspected she would always feel that from now on…but it was no longer a hold on her. And Sonic…Sonic was safe. _All _her friends were. Whatever else happened down the line, this fight was over. At long last, it was _over._ "Hey. Sal…" Sonic…! The Princess turned her head toward him…

…only to find his lips softly but lovingly pressed against her own. How long it had been since she'd known that sweet, simple, and undeniably glorious sensation. The hedgehog pulled away before too long, much to her (and, she could see in the brief glimpse of Sonic's eyes, his) disappointment, but the point had been made. There was still a lot left for them to work through, yes, but that was the point: they _would _work through it. Because she loved him, and he loved her. That was how it worked, regardless of all the other complications surrounding it.

"OK, Team," Geoffrey said, wound still stinging but tone all business, "I got through to the Palace. They're sending a Jet to our co-ordinates to pick us up and take us back to the City." His voice shook a bit as the full of the experience finally caught up with him, "We're going home."

Sally smiled brightly at the statement. But looking around her…at Rotor, now in a debate with the Arachne about the nature of Sprits manifesting as physical beings…at Geoffrey, standing tall and proud with Hershey nudging him playfully…at Knuckles and Julie-Su, hand in hand and both looking weathered but satisfied…at Tails, grinning joyfully at her and flying circles of celebration in the sky above…and at Sonic, a grin stronger than any she could remember from recent times and a hand at last strong enough to give her shoulder a loving squeeze…she knew a jet wasn't necessary.

She _was_ home.

At long last, she was home again.

**END**


End file.
